“Spike Lee is great. He let us know (…) that he was ready to be president of the jury in 2021” said Pierre Lescure, president of the Festival, at Le Figaro.
“Spike Lee told us that he would be loyal to us no matter what. I hope we get there next year,” declares the Festival’s general delegate, Thierry Frémaux, to the British site Screendaily.com.
The American filmmaker should have presented, out of competition, “a great movie he made with Netflix”, “Da 5 Bloods”, which will be released on the online platform on June 12, specifies Mr. Frémaux. “This” surprise (…) should have marked the return of Netflix on the red carpet, out of competition of course “.
The biggest film festival in the world and the American platform maintain complicated reports, and since 2017 no film stamped Netflix has appeared in the official selection. In 2017, two Netflix films were featured, including “Okja” by South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, Palme d’Or 2019 and Oscar winner for “Parasite”. But their non-theatrical release had sparked controversy.
According to MM. Lescure and Frémaux, the reflection on the alternative forms that the festival could take this year continues, around in particular a selection stamped “Cannes 2020”, without jury or awards, and a possible collaboration with the Venice Film Festival.
“We agree on the principle of doing something together, but we question the form it should take”, thus indicates Mr. Lescure about Venice, Mr. Frémaux indicating wishing “show films together”.
Shortfall “could be between 5 and 10 million”
“With the Cannes 2020 label and the online film market, a” Cannes outside the walls “will be the third axis of our redeployment this fall”, continues the general delegate, evoking a presence at the festivals of Toronto, Deauville, Angoulême, San Sebastian, New York, Busan in South Korea or the Lumière festival in Lyon.
Regarding the cost of canceling the physical festival, Mr. Lescure believes that the shortfall “could be between 5 and 10 million” euros. But he points out that “the way the festival has structured its finances and its cash by setting up an endowment fund protects it”. This fund “has around 20 million euros”, he continues by estimating that “the festival will never be a commercial machine”.
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