It’s now official: Europe’s most prestigious film festival, the Cannes Film Festival, has been postponed due to the spread of the coronavirus. The official festival account tweeted, “Due to the health crisis and the development of the French and international situation, the Festival de Cannes will no longer be able to take place on the dates planned, from May 12 to 23.”
However, the organizers have decided not to cancel the festival altogether and they are still holding out hope that this year’s festival will take place later in the year. In their statement, the organizers said that they were considering “several options” to hold the event, “the main one being a simple postponement … until the end of June, beginning of July 2020.”
The organizer continued to say that they will continue to monitor the health situation and that they were in ongoing consultation “with the French Government and Cannes’ City Hall as well as with the Festival’s Board Members, Film industry professionals and all the partners of the event.”
In the meantime, it is still unclear whether the Marché du Film, the film market that runs alongside the Cannes festival, which planned to set up as a virtual market this year will be held. It may move its dates to run along with the festival when it will be held.
