Miami is making its connection to Moonlight a bit more official. After the movie won over the hearts of critics en route to an Oscar for Best Picture, the city in which the film is based is re-naming a street in its honor.
The Miami New Times reported on Tuesday that the Florida city would be naming a stretch of Miami-Dade County's Liberty City after the 2016 film, which follows the life of a young, gay, black man growing up in the area.
Moonlight had a historic night at the Oscars this year — including a memorable, slightly ridiculous Best Picture victory over La La Land. And as the Miami New Times recapped, after winning Best Adapted Screenplay, the film's co-writer, Tarell Alvin McCraney, gave a special shoutout to his hometown. "We can really be here and be somebody, two boys from Liberty City up here onstage representing the 305," he said.
Thus the city decided to rename one of its streets — NW 22nd Avenue from NW 61st Street to NW 66th Street, close to where parts of the movie were filmed — "Moonlight Way."
"This movie — at least what I got from it — really depicts the life of how a lot of us were raised and what we had to go through and endure as children in the inner city," Miami Commissioner Audrey Edmonson told the publication.
"This goes out to children still living here in the inner city that are told they'll never amount to anything. It shows that it doesn't matter how you were raised or where you grew up; you can still turn out to be someone."
In an interview with the New Times back in October 2016, Moonlight director Barry Jenkins reminisced on his Miami childhood and the beauty of the city, which makes the tribute seem a bit more fitting.
The announcement comes right before Jenkins and McCraney are set to return to Miami for the Moonlight Celebration at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center on April 22.
Topics Oscars
