Not long after I posted last Thursday morning we got the news that Cannes Film Festival organizers had announced that the Festival is postponed for the time being. Various reports indicate that the current desire is to attempt to mount the fest in late June or early July.
That plan apparently envisions a physical presentation of film the would mirror as best as possible the "normal" Cannes experience in terms of film presentation, awards etc.
Whether that happens at that time and in that fashion is an open question.
Most of the analysis that I have seen coming from the film press covering Cannes for the last few days has focused primarily on the disruption in the film sales market that has already resulted from the outbreak of Covid-19 as well as the continued disruption vis-a-vis film sales which is a huge component of the Cannes experience each year.
From this blog's perspective, this news is viewed through the lense of TFF. Does Cannes' decision to postpone alter what screens at T-ride? If so, how and to what extent? Should Cannes take place in some virtual form rather than the traditional screenings...does that change Telluride? If Cannes organizers ultimately conclude the French fest isn't going to happen in 2020...
I don't pretend to know any of the answers nor do I have any predictions or prescriptions.
It is worth noting that there is some reporting that suggests that a no-Cannes summer could result in more first time screenings at fall fests including Telluride. That comes from both this Deadline story. The Deadline story also specifically mentions a few films that most insiders believe to have been already headed to Cannes that would be looking for a different place to land should Cannes not be able to go forward including The French Dispatch (which, as far as I know, is still scheduled to open in July), Annette, Tre Piani and Memoria.
Additionally, this Variety story says that a spokesman for the Venice Film Fest says that "nobody is questioning the fate of Toronto and Telluride".
I have linked other news concerning Cannes from the last few days below:
Screen International from last Thursday's Cannes postponement announcement.
Variety's coverage of Thursday's announcement.
Screen International from this morning.
SPIKE IN LOOKS
I'm not sure why but MTFB has had a substantial spike in views over the past few days. In this "off-season" for the Blog, it's a good day of there are over 100 hits/day. This past 10 days the blog has been hit over 2,000 times with 1,200 of that coming on Mar. 13th, 16th and 20th-the last three publication dates.
Reasons? Maybe an increased interest in this time period because of the uncertain status of Cannes. Maybe people using a few minutes of their self-isolation to catch up on Telluride. I'm not sure but it's certainly noticeable.
I'll be watching to see if the trend continues with today's post.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
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