The Cannes Film Festival will unveil a list of 50 to 60 films on Wednesday benefiting from a label specially created after the cancellation of its 73rd edition, a first in 70 years, justified by the global health crisis.
These films will be part of an exceptional “official selection 2020” for several reasons for the famous festival which will also establish partnerships with other film festivals.
The selection will be announced on Wednesday in Paris “at 6:00 pm on Canal + en clair as well as on the Festival website and all of its social networks”, announced the organizers in a press release and the event “will take place as every year since UGC Normandie cinema, in Paris ”.
“We decided that we could not put everything in parentheses,” said the Festival’s deputy director, Thierry Frémaux, in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter Thursday.
Refusing to announce an outright cancellation of the Festival, he promised to think of new “forms”.
By creating a “Cannes 2020” label, the objective is for these films to benefit from maximum exposure and participate in the revival of a sector that has been completely shutdown since mid-March.
Contrary to the habits and customs of the Festival, the largest in the world with Venice and Berlin, there will be no competition – so no Palme d’Or – nor parallel sections this year.
“We have received many invitations from festivals around the world to show the selected films, in a spirit of solidarity that was touching to watch,” said Mr. Frémaux, citing probable collaborations with festivals in Toronto, San Sebastien, Busan in South Korea, New York, Los Angeles, Mar del Plata and, in France, Deauville, devoted to American cinema and Angoulême which will be held “late August-early September”.
Regarding a possible partnership with the Venice Film Festival, discussions are still ongoing, he said. “We still don’t know what form it will take, but Alberto Barbera (head of the Venice festival) is very open and supportive of the idea.”
Regarding the selection, no film title is known for the moment even if Thierry Frémaux has never hidden his interest in “The French Dispatch” by Wes Anderson and “Tre Piani” by Nanni Moretti.
In contrast, Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta”, with Virginie Efira as a lesbian nun, will be released in 2021, its producer announced, and is expected to be honored at Cannes next year.
The president of the jury scheduled for this year, Spike Lee, said he was ready to fulfill this function in 2021.
For professionals, the traditional film market will be held online at the end of June.
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