Taipei Film Festivals Kicks Off Friday As One of World’s First ‘Post-Coronavirus’

Rebecca Davis editorThe Shanghai International Film Festival will take place July 25 to Aug. 2, after Chinese authorities announced Thursday that cinemas will reopen at long last, beginning next Monday in low-risk regions.The Shanghai International TV Festival has also set its dates.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentThe Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for the 17th edition of Cannes Classics, a popular sidebar dedicated to restored heritage movies and documentaries that forms part of the Official Selection.This year’s roster comprises 25 feature films and seven documentaries.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterMahmoud Sabbagh, the director of Saudi Arabai’s Red Sea Film Festival, is resigning from his role after being unable to take the reins at the event’s inaugural edition after it was cancelled due to the pandemic.No reason was given for Sabbagh’s decision to step down. The festival posted a statement on its social media channels thanking the exec for his work and noting he will now return to working in the Saudi film industry as a filmmaker.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticCall me crazy, stubborn or reckless, but until today’s announcement that the Telluride Film Festival has been canceled, I’d optimistically kept my reservation, holding out hope that the high-altitude fall fest — which has launched such best picture Oscar winners as “The King’s Speech,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Moonlight” — might happen after all.Passes went on sale in late February for the high-altitude sprocket opera, and within hours, they’d sold out.

Also Read: Palm Springs Film Festival Postponed to Late February 2021Earlier this month, Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York agreed  to team up this year and offer what they call a “united platform” for this year’s cinema in response to the coronavirus pandemic.Organizers of the festivals said they are moving away from competing with each other for world premieres and specific films and will work together to keep the “film ecosystem” thriving, serving filmmakers, audiences, journalists and

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorThe 2020 edition of the Telluride Film Festival has been canceled.“After months of intense due diligence around physically holding an event, we’ve come to the heartbreaking but unanimous conclusion to cancel this year’s Labor Day celebration of film in Telluride,” the festival said in a statement on Tuesday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Detention,” a school-set thriller-horror sited during Taiwan’s martial law or White Terror period, was Sunday named as best narrative feature at the Taipei Film Award, the closing event of the Taipei Film Festival.The film, adapted from a Red Candle video game, also claimed the best actress, best art design, best visual effects and best sound design awards. The jury called the film “courageous” for making a stand at this time.

The Toronto Film Festival on Friday opened registration and shared details for its first-ever virtual industry conference. TIFF's online plans include industry conference sessions, networking events and digital showcases of film titles by national cinema agencies.

Dino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterInside Out, Canada’s foremost LGBTQ film festival, has unveiled the 16 recipients for its RE:Focus ‘Emergency Relief Fund’, which was created in response to the pandemic and its impact on the industry.

The Toronto, New York, Telluride and Venice film festivals, knocked sideways in their planning by the coronavirus pandemic, have unveiled a joint statement that commits the long-time rivals to cooperate and not compete for film titles and awards-season bragging rights in the fall. "This year, we’ve moved away from competing with our colleagues at autumn festivals and commit instead to collaboration.

Also Read: Sundance 2021 to Extend Beyond Utah, Be Held in 20 Cities Nationwide and OnlineAll four festivals take place within a month and a half of one another in the fall, and they’re the first stepping stone on the road to the Oscars, which for 2021 has already delayed its ceremony to late April.Venice is meant to take place Sept. 2-12, Telluride runs from Sept.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Venice, Toronto, Telluride and New York Film Festivals have joined forces in an alliance that will see the prominent fall events, all positioned six weeks from each other, collaborate rather than compete in a spirit of post-pandemic solidarity.The statement announcing this alliance provides scant details of what concrete form it will take, beyond saying that they “are offering our festivals as a united platform for the best cinema we can find.” But

Tom Grater, Andreas Wiseman The coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the film calendar with Sundance, Toronto and London the latest festivals to announce hybrid events featuring physical and online activity.Below we rundown the current status of some of the key upcoming festivals and markets in the next six months; this list will be updated as developments happen.Sarajevo (August 14-21)Bosnia’s Sarajevo Film Festival is sticking to its August dates and is pushing on with a

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe upcoming Venice Film Festival’s reconfiguration due to coronavirus safety measures has been officially unveiled.Barring complications, Venice, which runs Sept.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorThe Venice Film Festival this morning said that the 77th edition will go ahead from September 2-12 with certain changes owing to sanitary protocols imposed by the COVID-19 crisis.

Hong Kong director Derek Tsang'sBetter Dayswon the top prizes at the first—and perhaps only—virtual edition of Italy's Far East Film Festival (FEFF). Tsang's romantic crime drama, starringZhou Dongyu and Jackson Yee, took the overall audience award, the Golden Mulberry, as well as the Black Mulberry, voted on by the Shogun pass holders.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentAlthough the public part of this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival — the key event for the film business in Central and Eastern Europe — was canceled, the festival is pressing ahead with its industry section, Eastern Promises, which runs July 6-8 in an online format.Eastern Promises selects 41 projects in development, production and post-production from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North

Spain's San Sebastian Film Festival unveiled its first six competition titles for its 68th edition, including movies from Naomi Kawase, François Ozon and Thomas Vinterberg. Most of the movies arefrom the Cannes Film Festival's "Cannes 2020" selection, which is made up of films that carry the Cannes brand to the screen at other events around the world.

The BFI London Film Festival finds itself experiencing many of the issues that are plaguing the 2020 festival circuit. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many events to close this year and with the fall shaping up to be only a slight bit better than the spring and summer, events like the LFF are having to adapt.