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Tribeca Film Festival to host full capacity closing night at Radio City Music Hall

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Monday, May 17, 2021

Tribeca Film Festival to host full capacity closing at Radio City

CeFaan Kim has more on a slew of reopening announcements in New York.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Radio City Music Hall will open its doors for the first time in over a year on Saturday, June 19, to host the Tribeca Film Festival's Closing Night film in person and at 100% capacity.

The entire audience will be fully vaccinated audience, and additional details about the landmark event and screening will be announced soon.

The Tribeca Festival will be the first in-person film festival to take place in North America since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

As a 20th anniversary celebration, the reimagined festival will feature brand new viewing experiences, including outdoor screenings at locations, such as Pier 76, and Tribeca At Home, a new selection of films that will be screened online only.

The festival's Opening Night will feature a world premiere screening of the film "In the Heights," at the United Palace Theater in Washington Heights and across all other outdoor festival venues simultaneously.

For the first time ever, opening night will be screened simultaneously across all five boroughs in multiple open-air venues.

Jon M. Chu directed the screen adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical, created and produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

"As our numbers continue to decline and more and more New Yorkers get vaccinated, we can begin to turn the page on COVID and look forward to getting back to a new normal," Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "Events, venues and businesses all across New York State are reimaging how they operate for a post-pandemic world, and the Tribeca Festival is no exception. This year the Tribeca Festival will offer new, exciting ways for New Yorkers and visitors to screen the year's best films and enjoy the many events and experiences that will take place, culminating with a fully vaccinated audience at 100% capacity at the historic Radio City Music Hall. This is a huge step forward in our state and our nation's reopening that will let the rest of the world know New York is back and better than ever."

The Tribeca Festival was founded in the wake of 9/11 around the idea that artists and great storytelling can inspire hope, bring about change and revitalize communities during difficult times. Twenty years later, Tribeca's message rings truer than ever, particularly after a year in which New York and the larger world faced unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic.

"Our founding mission is even more relevant today, and we wanted to ensure that we could reach all corners of New York," co-founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal said. "Tribeca was started to bring people together, and that's what we aim to do again this year, to connect communities across all five boroughs and share our festival experience, safely, while supporting local businesses."

The 2021 Tribeca Festival will be a 12-day event across multiple locations with 250+ screenings; talks and performances; five immersive pieces in the Mixed Reality Arcade at Spring Studios; and programming in all five boroughs.

The Tribeca Film Festival is making its return, with plans to hold the first in-person film festival in North America.

The festival will also feature a podcast lineup for the first time ever, as well as a series of film reunions and anniversaries.

The festival expects to reach up to 100,000 guests who can participate over the 12-day event with over 200 screenings at outdoor venues including:

--The Battery, Manhattan

--Waterfront Place at Brookfield Place, Manhattan

--Hudson Yards, Manhattan

--Pier 76 in Hudson River Park, Manhattan

--Empire Outlets, Staten Island

--MetroTech Commons, Brooklyn

Also, the Borough-to-Borough programs will bring the festival directly to neighborhoods around New York City using traveling 40-foot state-of-the-art LED cinemas, the first mobile HD screens in the country, to connect communities to the festival experience in their own backyard. Borough-To-Borough venue locations include:

--Queens: Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Rockaway Beach, Astoria Park

--The Bronx: Van Courtland, Soundview Park, Walter Gladwin Park

--Brooklyn: Marine Park