Cannes Cancels Physical Edition, Will Announce Official Selection in June

Elle Fanning at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. Photo by David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock (10237694av)

Another event has been canceled due to the coronavirus. The Cannes Film Festival has decided to opt-out of a physical edition and unveil a selection of films in early June in collaboration with other festivals. There will also be no physical festival this fall.

“As of today, a physical edition seems complicated to organize, so we are going forward with an announcement of films from the (initial Official) Selection at the beginning of June,” said a spokesperson for the festival, which confirms what Cannes’ director Thierry Fremaux said on Sunday during an interview with Screen Daily.

As an alternative to a virtual festival, Cannes will oragnize “redeployment ‘outside the walls’ (of Cannes), in collaboration with fall festivals,” the spokesperson continuted. 

Cannes’ director Thierry Fremaux plans to announce the films that were part of the roster and scheduled to be released in theaters between now and next spring. These films will be given a “Cannes 20” label. Movies that delayed their release by a year will be considered for the 2021 edition. The selection process for next year’s festivals will begin in the fall.

The “labeled” films will be featured at film festivals such as Toronto, Deauville, Angoulême, San Sebastian, New York, Busan, and Fremaux’s own Lumière festival in Lyon. 

The Cannes Marché du Film’s virtual edition is set to run June 22-26, alongside a U.S agencies-led virtual market. There’s been no further news if the Venice Film Festival will take place and a final decision will be made at the end of the month.