The Cannes Film Festival is supposed to happen on May 12th which is exactly 8 weeks from now. Now, think about that … will the hysteria-filled and panic-wheeling Wuhan virus be contained by then? Is it realistic to think that we will all be back to a sort of normalcy by May 12th? Fat chance. But don’t say that to Cannes organizers who just released another defiantly brave statement that, as we speak, the show is scheduled to go on.
This, at the same time that France is now canceling public gatherings of more than 100 people, which is detrimental to overall message Cannes is trying to purvey to people. Amd yet, according to Variety, in response to the new French regulations, a spokesperson for the Cannes Film Festival said, “The latest restriction comes from a plan (by the government) that we hope will start to bear results in April, and by then we will know if the events scheduled for May, at Cannes and elsewhere, will be maintained.”
The statement continued, “We are working hand in hand with the mayor of Cannes and the National Film Board (CNC) to make the festival happen and, if it does, in the best possible conditions.”
Hey, listen, it’s fine to have optimism, I hare absolutely no problem with that and the Cannes Film Festival needs to remain optimistic because they’ve worked year-round to make this festival happen next month. Obviously, this positivity is based on the assumption that the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic in France will be done with in April and that, by May 12th, we will have no problem sitting with 1000+ other cinephiles in a dark room to watch Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” opening the festival (still a rumour). You won’t find the kind of optimism Cannes has for Covid-19 anywhere else in Europe or North America right now. Bless their cinephile hearts.
Speaking to the French outlet, Le Monde (via Variety), Cannes director Thierry Fremaux commented, “We have a tradition of saying the Cannes Film Festival is the first sign of summertime. To remain optimistic and keep our fighting spirit, let’s say that this year Cannes will be the first world event where we’ll (celebrate) life again.”
Fremaux isn’t going along with the grain and that’s perfectly fine, for now.