The Tribeca Film Festival announced this Friday that it will open this year’s edition, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary, with the highly anticipated film In the Heights, an adaptation of what was the first musical to go write Lin-Manuel Miranda, responsible for the successful Hamilton.
For the first time in the history of New York festival, which this year will be held from 9 to 20 June, the film will be screened on the first night of the show simultaneously in the five districts that make up the city, in various outdoor enclosures.
But the main event will be held at the United Palace in Washington Heights, north of Manhattan, which also marks the world premiere of In the Heights, a Latin-flavored film that revolves around life and concerns of various characters living in the New York neighborhood of Washington Heights, where Dominican immigrants are concentrated.
“It is an honor to inaugurate the 20th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival. (…) We cannot wait to share this love letter in the form of a musical in our community, with our community, in our community “, said Miranda in a statement, who composed both the lyrics and music for the play In the Heights in 1999, when she was 19 years old.
“In the Heights is the quintessential New York history of hard work, resilience and triumph,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder and executive director of the Tribeca Film Festival. proud “to be able to count on this film on the first night of the show to” celebrate the Latino community. “
The film version of In the Heights features Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, Corey Hawkins, Jimmy Smits, Dascha Polanco and Lin-Manuel Miranda, among others.
The film’s premiere, directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, 2019), is one of Warner Bros. producer’s big bets, but it was hit hard by the pandemic.
Although it was originally scheduled to hit theaters in June 2020, this release was suspended by the coronavirus without a new date being reported at that time.
Earlier this year it was announced that it would finally hit theaters in June, although it was not until this Friday when it was revealed that it would be released on June 9 and would play such a prominent role. at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Following its presentation at the show, In the Heights will be available from June 11 in U.S. theaters, and 31 days later on the HBO Max platform.
So far, the Tribeca Film Festival has not yet announced which films will take part in the event, nor with which film this year’s edition will close, which is held two months later than usual.
Like many other festivals, Tribeca initially had to suspend the 2020 edition due to the coronavirus pandemic, which it later held in the middle of the year in a fully digital format.