A deeply personal story about four generations of an Indian immigrant family finding love, loss, and belonging has been selected as the 2026 AT&T Untold Stories winner. Today, AT&T and Tribeca announced that filmmaker Sid Gopinath, co-writer Aditya Joshi and producer Alifya Ali’s “Minnesota Goodbye” will receive a $1.2 million production award and year-round mentorship ahead of its world premiere at the 2027 Tribeca Festival.
The live pitch event took place at the AT&T Untold Stories Lounge during the 2026 Tribeca Festival, where emerging filmmakers Nicole Emanuele, Sid Gopinath, Rachel Harrison Gordon, Jesus Beltran and Jean Lee presented their projects to the 2026 Greenlight Committee which included Phoebe Robinson, Moisés Zamora, Isabel Sandoval, Lilian T. Mehrel — director and 2024 AT&T Untold Stories winner — and Kellyn Smith Kenny, chief marketing and growth officer, AT&T. The panel was moderated by journalist and host Brooke Baldwin.
“This has already been an unbelievable, once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said 2026 AT&T Untold Stories winner Sid Gopinath. “This is a completely personal project, and we can’t wait to make the movie this summer and bring audiences to the cabin. Massive thank you to AT&T, Tribeca, the Greenlight Committee and all of the other finalists!”
“Every one of these filmmakers brought extraordinary talent, creativity and vision,” said the 2026 Greenlight Committee. “But ‘Minnesota Goodbye’ stayed with us from the moment we read it. It’s deeply personal yet universally resonant, with an emotional power that reflects exactly what AT&T Untold Stories was created to champion. The vision for the film will offer audiences beautiful intimacy and we can’t wait to see it unfold.”
Before funding, AT&T and Tribeca provide the winning filmmaker with year-round creative, production and promotional support – from script development and casting to festival strategy and distribution planning; helping transform an original idea into a finished feature film.
Since launching in 2017, AT&T Untold Stories has received more than 3,800 submissions and helped emerging filmmakers bring original stories to audiences worldwide. Alumni projects have screened at more than 125 festivals, appeared on major streaming platforms and earned an average of 95% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Through Untold Stories, AT&T continues its commitment to helping creators and communities connect by giving emerging voices the opportunity to share stories that might otherwise never be told.
Additional information about the 2026 winning film, “Minnesota Goodbye”
Written and directed by Sid Gopinath, also co-written by Aditya Joshi and produced by Alifya Ali
About “Minnesota Goodbye”: Four generations of an Indian immigrant family navigate love, loss, and belonging while building a home for themselves at a lakeside cabin in Northern Minnesota. An intimate family epic told in reverse chronological order.
About Sid Gopinath: Sid Gopinath is a Brooklyn-based writer and filmmaker. With his writing partner Aditya Joshi, Sid sold SHIKAAR, a horror thriller TV show set in colonial India, to FX. He was also a writer on Seasons 1 and 2 of Amazon’s WE WERE LIARS. As a director, Sid has directed short documentaries music videos for indie artists including Mayyadda, bluesoul, and NOAMZ.
Sid is a 2026 SFFILM/Sloan Grantee, 2026 Marble House Project Artist, 2025 WGAE & Filmnation New York Screenwriting Fellow, 2025 Ucross Artist in Residence, 2025 Stio x 5Point Short Film Challenge Winner, 2024 Signpost Fellow, 2024 Birch Fellow at Tofte Lake Artist Residency, and two-time Rideback RISE Circle Member. As the son of Indian immigrants, Sid tells stories about memory, belonging, and defragmentation.
For more information about AT&T Untold Stories, including how to enter next year’s program, visit tribecafilm.com.
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