Organizers of the annual Cannes Film Festival has ruled out the chance of having a physical version this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the festival has partnered with other major film festivals such as Venice to screen some selected films originally scheduled to premiere at Cannes.
“Under the circumstances, a physical edition of Cannes 2020 is hard to envisage, so we’ll have to do something different … Everyone understands that [it is] impossible this year,” disclosed Thierry Fremaux, artistic director for Cannes
“As of today, a physical edition seems complicated to organize, so we are going forward with an announcement of films from the (initial Official) Selection at the beginning of June,” said a spokesperson for the festival. The selected films will however receive the ‘Cannes 2020 label’ despite them been shown at a different festival.
Collaborating festivals include Toronto, Deauville, Angoulême, San Sebastian, New York, Busan and the Lumière festival in Lyons, directed by Frémaux. Films that were slated for a Cannes premiere but had to push back their release due to the pandemic will be considered for Cannes 2021. Official selection of films for next year’s festival begins Fall this year.
Meanwhile, the Cannes Marché du Film’s virtual edition is due to run June 22-26, alongside a U.S. agencies-led virtual market, Variety confirms.
By: Larry Adams
