As the coronavirus pandemic rages on in France, with close to 9000 deaths already recorded, Cannes Film Festival festival director Thierry Fremaux has confirmed [via Vairety] that the fest won’t be taking the virtual route if it can’t be hosted as a physical event.
“(For) Cannes, its soul, its history, its efficiency, it’s a model that wouldn’t work. What is a digital festival? A digital competition? We should start by asking rights holders if they agree,” Fremaux tells Variety.
“Films by Wes Anderson or Paul Verhoeven on a computer? Discovering ‘Top Gun 2’ or (Pixar’s) ‘Soul’ elsewhere than in (a) theater? These films have been postponed to be shown on a big screen; why would we want to show them before, on a digital device?” said Fremaux, teasing some titles that have been in the mix for the upcoming edition.
Check out the bolded directors and titles. A teasing hint of what could have been expected if the 2020 Cannes Film Festival were to have actually taken place in early May. That clearly won’t be happening now. There will be no “Top Gun 2,” “Benedetta,” “Soul” and “The French Dispatch.” If these titles were going to premiere at this year’s festival, then that would have meant a huge presence from Hollywood on the Croisette. Last year’s edition of the festival, which delivered a slew of Oscar contenders, including Best Picture winner “Parasite,” was seen as an important benchmark for Cannes, especially after complaints had earlier been made, mind you, by misguided journalists, that the festival had lost its importance and luster.
As mentioned in my 03.23.20 piece titled “Cannes 2020: What Films Would Have Competed for the Palme d'Or?” this year’s edition of the festival would have included new films by world-renowned directors such as Paul Verhoeven, Wes Anderson, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Leos Carax, Nanni Moretti, and Francois Ozon.
Last month, Cannes 2020 was postponed until late June/early June, but skeptics have been saying that date is not feasible due to the fact that France, and, really, the rest of the world, won’t be ready to host large gatherings by that time. In fact, many “experts” are saying that going back to actual normalcy could take more than a few months and extend into the fall months.