NEW YORK — The 20th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival is a month away, and tickets are now on sale. It’s the first in-person film festival to occur in North America since COVID-19 restrictions went into place.

Festival director Cara Cusumano says 66 films will play on outdoor super-sized LED screens all across New York City. The goal is very reminiscent of the founding of the festival, according to Cusumano.

“It is interesting that this is our 20th anniversary festival and we find our kind of founding mission really renewed and newly relevant," she said. "This was a festival that exists because film has that power to bring people together and to heal a community, like it did in 2002 after 9/11 and like we hope that it will do again this year after the COVID and quarantine.”

Festival-goers will be able to participate in this year's festival in person and online.

“There's a couple of ways to be a part of the festival this year,” said Cusumano. “We have a full program of in-person screenings and events, and then we also have the brand new Tribeca At Home program, which is taking place online.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical “In the Heights” was adapted for the big screen and will open this year's festival. New Yorkers who come out and participate in the festival will see the film in a brand new way.

“We’ve turned the city into a multiplex,” said Cusumano. "We've created theaters out of spaces in the city, we're bringing in LED screens so they're going to be really beautiful, crisp, big screen experiences. And then it's sort of sit-in style, so people will be seated in pods of two or four and coming together as an audience to watch a movie on the big screen like in an open-air theater.”

Safety protocols will be in place for the festival to protect festival-goers and festival filmmakers and actors.

“Everything is fully compliant with the latest standards from the city and the state,” said Cusumano. “In terms of safety and COVID compliance we have our seating socially distanced by six feet and in pods of two or four, so you're just seated with your own group. We do require masks to be worn throughout the screenings. But since there are open air venues, we don't need to do temperature checks or vaccines.”

All tickets for this year's Tribeca Film Festival can only be purchased online at tribecafilm.com.

Tickets will not be sold on-site due to COVID-19 safety precautions.