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With the awards circuit for the previous year still having not yet completed (though with the Academy Awards less than a month away, the end is near), it may seem a bit early to some to kick off the various major film festivals that frequently introduce the films that would later go on to become major awards contenders in the following season. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic appearing to draw closer to an end as more and more people across the nation are receiving vaccinations, and as cases have begun to fall as a result, there does seem to be a general consensus forming that most businesses can start to safely return to operation. This looks to be the case with much of the film industry; not only are a majority of the nation’s movie theater starting to open back up (with Cineworld’s Regal chain planning to reopen the majority of its locations on the first weekend of April), but film festivals are also seeking to hold events that aren’t limited to online interactions. Of the country’s most renowned festivals, the Tribeca Film Festival is the most recent to take advantage of improving conditions, announcing plans to hold in-person events for its upcoming 2021 festival.
On March 29th, organizers of the Festival, which is normally located in New York City, announced their intention to hold multiple live events over the course of the twelve-day festival set to occur later this year. This news comes on the heels of the state of New York finding great success as of lately in combating the Coronavirus, with vaccination rates on the rise and a sense of normality slowly returning to the lives of its citizens. The recent reopening of New York City’s movie theater market, one of the largest in the nation (second only to Los Angeles, which as also started to reemerge), is further proof of how much safer it has become for people to start going out to the movies again, which is definitely good news for an organization that thrives on having as many people as possible attend its various movie screenings.
The timing couldn’t be better, as the 2021 festival will mark the 20th anniversary of Tribeca, something that was acknowledged by one of the festival’s co-founder, “Taxi Driver” and “Meet the Parents” actor Robert de Niro, in a statement released to announce the return of an in-person festival. “As New York emerges from the shadow of COVID-19,” de Niro announces, “it seems just right to bring people together again in-person for our 20th anniversary festival.”
Of course, none of this is to say that festival organizers won’t try to make this upcoming festival any less safe. Even with the number of cases dropping in New York, it will still take much longer to eradicate the threat of the Coronavirus, so in order to reduce the disease’s spread as much as possible, the Festival will be held as a primarily outdoor event, with a majority of the screenings being held at drive-ins and other outdoor venues in New York. According to Tribeca, it will work closely with the New York State Department of Health as a means of ensuring that all public gatherings adhere to the strict anti-COVID guidelines put in place.
This year’s festival will be held from June 9th to the 20th, a little over two months after the time the festival is usually held. Although many of the festival’s most significant events will occur in the Manhattan neighborhood from which the festival receives its name, this year will see the event spread out across much more of New York City, reaching out to other boroughs such as the Bronx and Staten Island. Among the locations currently planning to hold any number of the festival’s screening and live discussions are Brookfield Place New York, the Pier 57 Rooftop, the Battery, Hudson Yards, Empire Outlets in Staten Island and The MetroTech Commons in Brooklyn. In addition, around forty LED cinemas will pop up across each of New York City’s five boroughs, allowing for community screenings that the general public can have much easier access to than some of Tribeca’s more exclusive events.
One of Tribeca’s other co-founders, Tribeca Enterprises CEO Jane Rosenthal, cited this sense of community in New York in her own statement announcing the festival’s return. “Tribeca is a community of the most resilient and talented storytellers on the planet,” Rosenthal claims. “In 20 years, our community of creators and 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.” This wouldn’t be the first time the Tribeca Film Festival has been used as a means of bringing people together during a time of great stress. In fact, the very first Tribeca Film Festival, taking place in the early months of 2002, was held in response to the September 11th attacks of the previous year, providing the people of New York City a means of hope and comfort during a time of great uncertainty.
Although the circumstances this time around are significantly different, the uncertainty surrounding the events of the previous year and the difficulty that has been faced in getting things back on track has taken quite a toll on the city, if not the nation in general. An event as exciting and welcoming as a film festival is just what’s needed to help lift people’s spirits, and as it was able to do just that almost twenty years earlier, there’s little reason why the Tribeca Film Festival can’t have such luck now. In fact, with the multiple venues spread throughout New York City where the events of the upcoming festival will take place, as opposed to the more limited number of previous festivals, the event will have a much wider and more accessible reach than ever before, meaning that there will be a greater chance for any one of New York’s millions of residents to take part in the cinematic festivities.
With the several safety protocols put into place, it won’t be easy for this event to go off without a hitch. However, with the pandemic nearing its conclusion and a sense of optimism returning to the nation, the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival may prove to be the ultimate culmination of New York City’s efforts to bring its people together once again.
