COVID-19 impact: Cannes Film Festival postponed until July
The 2021 edition of the Cannes Film Festival has been postponed and will now take place in July. In a brief statement, the festival's organizers said that the festival has been pushed by two months due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The film festival will now run from July 6 to July 17. Variety had revealed last week that organizers were looking at dates between July 5-25. The event is expected to take place after Cannes Lions, the advertising and marketing trade show, which is still on track to run from June 21 to June 25.
Variety further reported that if the July dates do not work out, then the end of August is being considered as a back-up.
"As announced last autumn, the Festival de Cannes reserved the right to change its dates depending on how the global health situation developed," Cannes said in the statement.
The announcement comes after days of speculation that the festival might be postponed as cases continue to surge across Europe. The 2020 Cannes Film Festival had unveiled an Official Selection but the festival itself was canceled due to the deadly health crisis. Last year's edition was cancelled due to the pandemic and replaced by a low-key event in October, showcasing short films but without the A-list movie stars, directors and producers.
American film director Spike Lee, who was named jury president for Cannes in January 2020 but was never able to serve due to the event's cancellation, is still expected to lead the 2021 jury
