RITA DI SANTO assesses the winners of the most politically charged festival to date
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In the Heights
MARIA DUARTE is inspired by an uplifting musical about Hispanic immigrants making a home for themselves in New York City
A screenshot from Jon M Chu's In the Heights
KATARZYNA KOSMALA introduces a retrospective by one of the most significant figures in contemporary US photography
MAYER WAKEFIELD is entertained but let down by an audacious production that, sadly, doesn't ring true
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by drama that, despite accomplished performances, cannot overcome an unfocused script
New releases from Sam Carter, Spell Songs and Les Thomas
In the Heights (PG)
Directed by Jon M Chu
FROM the creator and star of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, comes an uplifting and rousing exploration of what it means to be a Hispanic immigrant and dreamer in the US — particularly in the wake of the Trump administration, which labelled them killers, rapists and criminals — in this film adaptation of his award-winning stage musical.
It opens with the film’s narrator, Usnavi (an exceptional Anthony Ramos from Hamilton), on a beachside bar in the Dominican Republic recounting to some young kids his life in the largely Dominican Washington Heights neighbourhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City.
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