On July 18, 1969, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy arrived on Martha’s Vineyard to sail in the 43rd annual Edgartown Yacht Club regatta. It was a day the world would remember forever. But not because of the sailing race.

One of the lesser tolls of tragedy is the way it taints places.

The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival began on Thursday night with a premiere of the film Chappaquiddick. Two screenings were held at Edgartown Cinemas to sold-out audiences.

A few years ago director John Curran and actor Jason Clarke made a late night trip to the Dike Bridge in preparation for their film, which revisits events that took place there nearly 50 years ago.

Chappaquiddick, the upcoming movie that revisits Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s 1969 car crash, will open the 2018 Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival on March 15.

A newly-released trailer gives the first look at Chappaquiddick, an upcoming movie about Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s infamous 1969 car crash on the Vineyard.