London Film Festival Adds TV Strand, Expands Industry Program

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 2020 edition of the Cannes Film Festival has been postponed by the organizers owing to the Coronavirus crisis which has gripped almost every country in the world. Speculations were already rife about the prestigious film festival getting canceled in the wake of COVID 19 scare due to the fear of infection and now the reports have turned out to be true. The mega event was originally scheduled to be held from May 12 to May 23, 2020, in France.

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.

The 73rd Cannes Film Festival has been postponed over coronavirus.

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.

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

The 21st Annual Newport Beach Film Festival has been postponed amid concerns about COVID-19, Variety has learned exclusively.

The BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival has been canceled days before it was set to launch in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

“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.

The Cannes Film Festival has released a statement following the new measures taken by the French government to restrict gatherings for more than 100 people.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic the Venice Biennale, which is the Venice Film Festival’s parent organization, has moved the opening date of its Architecture Biennale – which was originally set to open May 23 – to August 29, two days before the planned start of the Venice Film Festival set to run Sept. 2-12.

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.

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 Panama Intl. Film Festival, the highest-profile film event in Central America, and a key platform for its burgeoning film industry, has postponed its 9th edition, due to run from March 26 to April 1.

The Cannes Film Festival is rapidly assembling a contingency plan to keep the festival going.

The Cannes Film Festival is among a number of events in France hanging in the balance in the face of the coronavirus outbreak and the government’s recent ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people. In the event of a cancellation, however, the festival won’t be able to rely on an insurance claim.

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.