2020 Cannes Film Festival: French Film Festival Postponed

Renowned film festival hoping to reschedule to June or July dates

Following suit with major festivals around the world, the 73rd iteration of the Cannes Film Festival has been postponed.

The world-renowned film festival was set to run from May 12-23, 2020, but on March 19 issued a press release saying that it would not be happening as planned. The festival is hoping to reschedule for a late June or early July start date, but did not confirm any new plans at this time.

“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,” the festival’s press release states. “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.”

President’s Statement

Spike Lee, who was selected as this year’s Jury President for the festival, agreed with the decision to postpone.

“The world has changed and it’s changing every day,” Lee said in an interview with Variety. “The stuff that we love has to take a back seat: movies, TV, sports….So many things have been postponed, and I agree with this move.”

Despite the festival’s postponement, Lee is still committed to his role as Jury President – a historic one, at that – and the representational weight it carries is definitely not lost on him.

Let’s not forget this is the world’s biggest film festival, the world’s biggest stage for cinema and I’ll be the first black president of the jury. So look, I can’t pretend [to know] what’s going to happen tomorrow. Everybody has to pray, get on bended knee, pray, we get out of this, find a vaccine, get back on our feet — physically, emotionally and financially worldwide. This is no joke. It’s not some movie. People are dying.

Pandemic Update

The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, is rapidly spreading across the globe. As of March 21, the World Health Organization reports over 292,000 confirmed cases worldwide. France, the Cannes Film Festival’s home, has confirmed over 14,000 cases and 550 deaths. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports over 33,000 known cases and 400 deaths in the United States as of March 23.

In addition to Cannes, many other major arts festivals have been cancelled or postponed in the wake of the pandemic. These include, but are not limited to: South by Southwest; Tribeca Film Festival; the Seattle International Film Festival; Coachella and Stagecoach; Bonnaroo; Eurovision; and VidCon. (Follow IndieWire’s listing for more frequent updates.)

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