It finally happened. After weeks of contemplation and countless other events been canceled or postponed due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the Cannes Film Festival has officially been pushed to a later date.
According to Variety, Cannes officials have announced that the French festival that was supposed to begin on May 12 is being postponed. Opposed to what SXSW and many other festivals have done in the wake of the pandemic, Cannes isn’t full-on canceling the event and is currently exploring other opportunities to continue at the end of June until the beginning of July. Official dates have yet to be announced.
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As we’ve discussed in recent days, the Cannes Film Festival seemed hellbent on keeping its May 12 start date, even as other festivals and major blockbuster films pulled themselves off the calendar. Previously, the fest said it would wait until late April before making a decision about the future of the event. Clearly, with most of Europe on lockdown and the US becoming a hotbed of COVID-19, a decision could not wait.
The full statement from Cannes said:
“At this time of global health crisis, our thoughts go to the victims of the Covid-19 and we express our solidarity with all of those who are fighting the disease.
“As soon as the development of the French and international health situation will allow us to assess the real possibility, we will make our decision known, in accordance with our ongoing consultation with the French Government and Cannes’ City Hall as well as with the Festival’s Board Members, Film industry professionals and all the partners of the event.
“In the meantime, the Festival de Cannes lends its vocal support to all of those who firmly call on everyone to respect the general lockdown, and ask to show solidarity in these difficult times for the entire world.”
We’ll keep you up to date as soon as we learn more about the future of the event and what days the festival will reschedule for. But as of now, we know for certain that the Cannes Film Festival will not be happening in May, as originally planned.