Edinburgh Filmhouse, International Film Festival’s Primary Venue, Planning Major $65M Re-Development

The Palais des Festivals, the main complex used for the Cannes Film Festival each year has been repurposed to shelter the homeless during the coronavirus outbreak that has taken hold of most countries around the globe. The huge centre has reportedly opened its doors to around 50-70 homeless people per night in the coastal city in the south of France. It reportedly opened its doors last Friday.

In today’s film news roundup, Canada’s largest LGBTQ film festival gets postponed, the commercial industry’s health plan addresses the coronavirus pandemic and Margaret Qualley’s “A Head Full of Ghosts” finds a home.

New Jersey’s Garden State Film Festival has found a way to still go ahead in the age of everything being cancelled due to the coronavirus.

The postponement of the Cannes Film Festival from mid-May to the end of June has elicited a mix of sadness and scepticism among international film executives.

When it comes to film festivals, everyone follows Cannes’ lead, which is why it’s curious that the influential French event, originally scheduled to unspool from May 12-23 this year, waited more than a full week after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic — and two weeks after the French government banned public gatherings through the end of May — to announce that it would not take place as originally planned.

The inevitable has finally happened: coronavirus has canned Cannes. The Cannes Film Festival said Thursday it is postponing its 2020 edition, marking one of the biggest business and entertainment event cancellations due to the virus. Organizers said they are now eyeing dates in late June to early July.

We all knew this was coming. As the world shuts down because of Coronavirus and large gatherings are banned, in order to slow the pandemic, the Cannes Film Festival was an inevitable casualty. It was a matter of when it would be postponed, not if. Well, that news has finally come down, pushing the fest from its initial plan to be held in the middle of May. It was just a matter of time until this happened, though it’s obviously still a bummer.

By Andreas Wiseman

The Sydney Film Festival, set to have taken place in June in Australia’s most populous city, has been canceled.

“Happy Old Year,” directed by Thailand’s Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, was named as the winner of the Grand Prix best picture award at the Osaka Asian Film Festival, which concluded its virus-impacted 15th edition at the weekend.

Manchester International Short Film Festival has been postponed due to coronavirus fears.

In today’s film news roundup, film festivals in New Jersey and Idaho are being postponed, Oscar-nominated Jason Hall will direct wrestling drama “Unstoppable” and the StoryPlace Studios database of story content is unveiled.

Tribeca Film Festival will no longer be taking place next month.

Pinewood Atlanta Studios, production home for Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” and “Avengers: Infinity War,” has launched plants for a 220,000 square-foot expansion that will be completed in the spring of 2022.

In today’s film news roundup, four film festivals have opted to pull the plug, the horror film “Infection” finds a home, Heidi Honeycutt gets hired and “Where the Crawdads Sing” gets a writer.

The Chinese government's flagship cinema event, the Beijing International Film Festival, has postponed its April 2020 edition, a move long expected amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis sweeping the globe. Organizers said a new launch date for the event, which was set to celebrate its 10th anniversary this year, would be unveiled in the coming weeks or months in accordance with local efforts to control the virus epidemic.

The Beijing International Film Festival, originally scheduled for late April, will be postponed to an unknown future date due to the coronavirus epidemic, organizers have said.

By Nancy Tartaglione

The Beijing International Film Festival originally scheduled for late April will be postponed to an unknown future date due to the coronavirus epidemic, organizers have said.

In today’s film news roundup, a pair of long-running film festivals in San Francisco and Cleveland are moving ahead and Warner Bros.’ Fred Hampton biopic gets additional backing and Dule Hill gets cast.