Cannes Film Festival 2021 postponed from May to July amid pandemic

The Cannes Film Festival, completely canceled last year by the pandemic, is postponing this year’s edition from May to July in hopes of having a festival in person.

Cannes organizers announced on Wednesday that this year’s festival will now take place from July 6 to 17, around two months after its usual period. The Côte d’Azur festival, which has been going on for almost 75 years with few interruptions, is currently hoping that the coronavirus will recede sufficiently by the summer.

Festival De Cannes on its Twitter account wrote, “74th FESTIVAL DE CANNES: CHANGE OF DATES Initially scheduled from 11 to 22 May 2021, the Festival de Cannes will now take place from Tuesday 6 to Saturday 17 July 2021. #Cannes2021”

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Last year Cannes initially considered postponing its 73rd festival to June or July before finally canceling it entirely. The festival continued with a selection announcement to celebrate the films it had planned to include in its prestigious lineup.

This year, the organizers intend to organize a festival, one way or another. No details were announced Wednesday on the form that a 2021 edition could take.

If Cannes were to go ahead with spectators in theaters in July, it would be the first major film festival to do so since the Venice Film Festival hosted a festival in September, with moviegoers in masks and distances social events on red carpets. The first independent film festival, Sundance, kicks off on Thursday with virtual screenings and drive-in events scattered across the United States. The Berlin Film Festival, scheduled for March in Germany, is planning a virtual event.

During the pandemic, Cannes’ central hub, the Palais des Festivals, was used as hospital beds and, more recently, as a vaccination center.