Will the Cannes Film Festival Be Canceled?

IntlCinephileSociety president, European critic, and film programmer Cedric Succiavelli, who has always been in-the-know when it comes to the big European film festivals, says it’s only a matter of time before they cancel the Cannes Film Festival this year due to the Coronavirus outbreak, which has been spreading throughout the world, but especially through Europe and Asia.

He posted it on the AwardsWorthy message boards this morning:

“And every other hour an important cultural French event is being canceled. If you ask me, Cannes is just a matter of time sadly. The Italian scenario is just a matter of a fortnight end probably even less.”

I think the problem Cannes has lies in the fest taking place in the Cote D’Azur, which borders Italy. Italy is struggling to contain the virus, and is up there with South Korea, Japan, and China in the number of cases diagnosed.

A festival spokesperson says that it is “premature” to assume that the coronavirus scare will lead to the cancellation of the Festival.

“The Festival de Cannes is monitoring carefully the developments and the latest guidelines provided by the local, national and international authorities regarding the coronavirus, and is in direct link with the Alpes-Maritimes’ administrative office, the official said.

“As of today, it is still premature to express assumptions on an event scheduled in two months and a half,” she added. The spokeswoman further elaborated that that Cannes would be ready to “take all the necessary measures, aiming at ensuring the protection of all attendees and preserving their health during the event in Cannes”.

The coronavirus (aka COVID-19), which broke out in China, has so far claimed the lives of close to 3,000 people while the number of confirmed cases has climbed to 80,000 as of Saturday, according to Chinese health officials.

The 2020 Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to take place from May 12th to 23rd.

With all that being said, and if the festival actually does get cancelled, what happens to the 40 or so movies that were supposed to be a part of Cannes 74? Will they just bleed into Locarno, Toronto, and Venice? That’s what seems to be the case as of now. I spoke to one of the heads of the Toronto International Film Festival during the weekend and they told me that TIFF is ready to take the on the task of accommodating these Cannes titles and giving them the exposure they deserve during the fall circuit. This could, of course, lead to a stacked lineup of high-profiled movies, but why would Venice and Toronto be complaining about such a thing?

As of now, these seem to be the films that are Cannes-bound:

Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Bergman Island”
Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria” 
Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta”
Leos Carax’s “Annette” 
Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” 
Nanni Moretti “Tre Piani”
Nadav Lapid “Ahed’s Knee”
Sofia Coppola’s “On the Rocks”
Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” 
Laurent Cantet’s “Arthur Rambo”
Kornél Mundruczó’s “Pieces of a Woman “
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Wife of a Spy
Bruno Dumont’s “On A Half Clear Morning“
Francois Ozon’s “Summer of 85”
Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Petrov’s Flu”
Ulrich Seidl "Böse Spiele"
Pete Docter’s “Soul”
Naomi Kawase’s “True Mothers”
Michel Franco’s “Lo que algunos soñaron”
Thomas Vinterberg’s “Druk”
Maiwenn "ADN"
Michaelangelo Frammartino "Il Buco"
Ana Lily Amirpour’s “Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon”
Taylor Sheridan's "Those Who Wish Me Dead"
Quentin Dupieux’s “Mandibules”
Xavier Beauvois’ “Drift Away”
Mathieu Amalric’s “Serre Moi Fort”
Nicole Garcia’s “Lisa Redler “
Stéphane Brizé’s ”For Better or For Worse”
Daniele Luchetti’s “The Ties”
Hiner Saleem’s “Goodnight, Soldier”
Ann Hui’s “Love After Love”
Danielle Arbid’s “Simple Passion”

• I added and subtracted a few movies since my last predictions write-up.

• Thomas Vinterberg movies don't always make Cannes competition, but maybe “Dursk” has a shot this year. That’s what I have been hearing.

• Also, Francois Ozon has a new movie titled “Summer of 1985” and this one seems to have gotten noticed from the Cannes selection committee. Ozon works non-stop. It’s film after film, year after year for the venerable 52-year-old director of “Under the Sand,” “Swimming Pool” and “The Double Lover.” “Summer of 1985” Would be Ozon’s ninth film in the last 11 years.

• Also, I did not know that Nicole Garcia had a new movie ready to go until just this week. Her latest, “Lisa Redler,” has been added to the equation. I’m intrigued.

• American director Sofia Coppola has been touted for Cannes competition ever since her latest, “On The Rocks,” starring Bill Murray, was announced as her next project. Distributed by Apple TV, a competition slot is contingent on the film being released in French cinemas (a condition for all works in contention for the Palme d’Or) since the film is produced via a streaming platform.

• Abderrahmane Sissako’s “The Perfumed Hill” has been taken off the list since I am now being told it has not even started shooting yet. Ditto Ildikó Enyedi’s “The Story of My Wife.”