Tribeca is postponed. SXSW is canceled. And various other spring festivals from around the world have either followed suit or greatly changed how they present the films. But yet, as we’ve been saying for days now, Cannes persists. Now, with even more restrictions on public gatherings and the rest of the film industry seemingly looking toward the fall and into 2021 for when everything might get back to normal, Cannes is still holding the course, despite its May start date.
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According to Deadline, despite the numerous cancellations that have hit the film/TV industry over the last week, the Cannes Film Festival is still committed to hosting its event in May.
“The festival staff members are currently working to prepare the event scheduled, as usual, the second week of May (May 12-23),” said officials for the festival.
That being said, it appears that Cannes organizers are starting to hint that the event might not be the same configuration as is traditionally seen.
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“For now, no date has been set for a decision [on whether to cancel]. The festival will announce its selection on April 16th and by the end of April we will evaluate in which configuration the festival will take place,” the statement continued.
The statement ended by talking about how the submissions have been still arriving for the festival, in line with the frequency seen in years past. For now, at least, it seems as if the Cannes folks are more focused on finalizing the lineup and less worried about whether or not the entire event will be canceled.
With news that France is now restricting public gatherings more than 100 people (and no end date), it appears that even if Cannes organizers wanted to hold their event, the festival would be greatly reduced in size. Perhaps we could be seeing a future where the event continues but the screenings are incredibly small and focused mainly on critics and filmmakers. But then again, would that even be worth it, as Cannes is famous for not only being a festival but also a gathering spot for some of the biggest names in the film industry from all around the world?
We’ll find out in April, it appears. Until then, Cannes is still set to begin on May 12.