CANNES GOES VIRTUAL

Timothee Chalamet, Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Frances McDormand+

Home page image: Saiorse Ronan in 'The French Dispatch'; image above: Kate Winslet and Saiorse Ronan in 'Ammonite'

BY: Amanda Jane Stern

The Cannes Film Festival was scheduled to take place from May 12-20, 2020. However, because of the coronavirus, the festival could not go on as planned. There were initial talks about pushing it back to June or July, but as the pandemic continued, it became clear that the festival would not be able to be held in a physical location. On June 3, festival president Pierre Lescure and delegate Thierry Frémaux announced the 56 films that would have screened at the 2020 festival. These films will be able to use the Cannes 2020 label when they play at other festivals and open in theaters.

timothee chalamet in the french dispatch — Timothee Chalamet in Wes Anderson’s ‘The French Dispatch’

Since they will not be screening, as usual, Cannes has changed the names of the different categories. In a typical year, each would fall under one of five categories: Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, Special Screenings and Midnight Screenings. The films screening in the Competition category would be eligible for the Palme d’Or. This year, there is no Palme d’Or award, so the new categories are as follows: The Faithful (or at least selected once before), The Newcomers, Omnibus Film, The First Features, Documentary Films, Comedy Films, and Animated Films. The selected films include Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, François Ozon’s Summer 85, Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock, Francis Lee’s Ammonite and Viggo Mortensen’s Falling.

summer of 85 — A scene from ‘Summer of 85’

lover's rock — A scene from Steve McQueen’s ‘Lover’s Rock’

In addition to announcing the films that would have screened, the festival will be hosting a spate of virtual events from June 22-26. The virtual Marché du Film is designed to simulate the live event as much as possible. According to the Cannes website, attendees will have the opportunity to virtually go to over 150 events, panels, keynote talks, and more. The virtual Marché du Film kicked off Monday, June 22 with the Digital European Film Forum. It will wrap up on Friday, June 26 with a virtual concert for the composer Gabriel Yared.