Karlovy Vary Sets ‘At Your Cinema’ Program; Taipei Film Festival To Go On; Korea Orders More ‘Voice’ – Global Briefs

Rebecca Davis editorA rare letter of dissent circulating online slammed China’s government for failing to help film industry workers whose livelihoods have been shaken by prolonged coronavirus-imposed shutdowns.Written this weekend as China hit its 136th day since cinemas shuttered nationwide, the letter has spread within film industry circles despite being censored on some platforms. Variety was unable to contact the author or verify its source.

Korean blockbuster Ashfallwill open this year's online-only Far East Film Festival (FEFF) withWilson Yip's Ip Man 4, Johnnie To’s musical and martial arts mash-upChasing Dream and Andrew Lau's action movie The Captainamong the big titles in the lineup. In total of 46 films from 8 countries feature in the lineup for the 22nd edition of FEFF that ordinarily takes place in thepicturesque northern Italian city of Udine but is moving online due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Dates for the 2020 International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM) have been announced, with the fifth edition of the event set to take place Dec. 3-8.

The much-awaited Cannes Film Festival which happens around May every year was cancelled this year owing to the Coronavirus pandemic. Indian celebrities like , , and others who usually walk the red carpet for brands also did not get to put down their best fashionable foot forward.

The selections for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival have been announced despite this year’s live event being cancelled.

“What are next year’s Oscars going to look like?” It’s a question the industry, awards forecasters and armchair pundits alike have been wondering as release schedules are scuttled and film festivals are canned amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

«What are next year's Oscars going to look like?» It's a question the industry, awards forecasters and armchair pundits alike have been wondering as release schedules are scuttled and film festivals are canned amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Films by Wes Anderson, Steve McQueen and Pixar all made the cut

By Patrick Frater

This year’s Cannes Film Festival is unlike any others in history. That is to say, this year’s event is nothing more than a simple list of “Official Selections,” with no in-person screenings, no post-screening press conferences, and no awards ceremony.

Despite growing concerns about the global pandemic, an industry that’s still in lockdown, and festivals being canceled left and right, the 2020 edition of the Telluride Film Festival will still go on as planned over Labor Day weekend.

What cinephiles have missed most this spring are the cries of “hon hon hon!” — the bitchy sound of French laughter — bellowing from the Côte d’Azur.

Thierry Fremaux doesn’t just help run the Cannes Film Festival. He’s also one of the heads of the Lumière Film Festival that happens each fall.

YouTube isn’t here to save the film festival season, but the platform’s We Are One event is surely attempting to fill the void left by the numerous canceled events due to COVID-19 this year. And with the online festival expected to begin later this week, the platform announced its first-ever line-up consisting of over 100 films, including 13 world premieres, 31 online premieres, and five international online premieres.

With most of the film festivals in the first half of 2020 either canceled or postponed already, the next big event on the calendar is the Venice Film Festival in early September. And up until now, the idea that the Italian event would continue as planned, even with COVID-19 still a major issue all around the world, was in doubt.

A global online film festival will bring together 21 of the world’s biggest celebrations of cinema, including Cannes, Venice, Sundance, Toronto and the BFI London Film Festival.

Despite SXSW and Cannes being cancelled, the 2020 Venice Film Festival will reportedly go ahead. This year’s event is due to kick off in Venice from 2-12 September and, according to trade paper Variety, that event will still happen with Cate Blanchett (above in Thor: Ragnarok) presiding over the jury.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic on Monday said that its expanded "KVIFF at Your Cinema" series, which it previously unveiled as its answer to the novel coronavirus pandemic that led to the cancellation of this year's fest, will present 16 films in 96 cinemas in the country over the course of nine days this summer.

By Leo Barraclough

By Patrick Frater