The 20th anniversary Tribeca Film Festival will be the first major in-person film event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and new information about how this year's festival will be conducted has been announced. According to the official Tribeca Film Festival site, the 12-day festival — running from June 9 to June 20 —will feature community screenings at Staten Island’s Empire Outlets, Brooklyn’s The MetroTech Commons, as well as notable Manhattan venues like Pier 57 Rooftop, The Battery, and more. This year's festival will host community screenings in all of New York City's boroughs, including the Bronx and Queens, using several 40-foot state-of-the-art LED cinemas and will also hold a Juneteenth commemorative event.
The festival marks the culmination of the statewide initiative, NYPopsUp, to reinstate live entertainment. Per The Hollywood Reporter, those behind the festival are working in tandem with the New York State Department of Health to ensure that all gatherings comply with pandemic safety protocols. The festival team even shared a mock-up of what an in-person event at this year's festival would look like on Twitter to help illustrate how they're considering the health and safety of those attending in-person events. Last year’s festival was forced to move online, and rather than going virtual once again, the festival pushed back its April calendar spot to appropriately plan for a safe, in-person event.
Jane Rosenthal, co-founder and CEO of Tribeca Enterprises and The Tribeca Festival, shared her excitement in a statement via THR: "Tribeca is a community of the most resilient and talented storytellers on the planet. In 20 years, that community of creators and our partners have become a family. This summer we are excited to reunite as Tribeca becomes a centerpiece of live entertainment in neighborhoods across New York City."
Acclaimed actor, producer, and co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival, Robert De Niro, noted that there couldn’t be a better time to unite New Yorkers through the arts. In a statement also shared via THR, De Niro remarked, "The Tribeca Film Festival was born out of our mission to bring people together in the aftermath of 9/11. We’re still doing it. And as New York emerges from the shadow of COVID-19, it seems just right to bring people together again in-person for our 20th-anniversary festival."
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg highlighted the festival as an event that once “set the stage for New York City’s incredible comeback,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, he believes it will lift spirits and spur a citywide revival once more.
An outdoor Tribeca Film Festival will underscore New York City’s resilience and adaptability, uniting film enthusiasts to celebrate the cinematic arts under the neon lights that line New York City’s sky. This is also major news for the North American film festival circuit as Tribeca sets itself up to be the first major festival to hold in-person events in over a year. More information about this year's events will be shared at a later date.