By Lyra Woods
Since the COVID-19 outbreak escalated to a global pandemic earlier this year, Film Festivals around the world have been adjusting their programming to accommodate and maintain their communities during this tumultuous time. According to NPR, none of the three national theatre chains–AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, and Cinemark– plans to reopen in June. The three chains operate about half of the films every year in the U.S. Moreover, Hollywood studios have delayed the release of all their blockbusters since March. However, a few art-house movie theatres have adapted the “new normal” and reopened as early as May– of course, with social distancing, cleaning and masks protocols.
For the national and regional film fests, most of them are transitioning their screenings and events online. Some of them are free and limited-time only, others charge a fee that is generally less than the ticket for a regular film fest. But there are quite a few top international film festivals still planning to go on.
Tribeca and YouTube initiated a Global Film Festival called “We Are One,” which is streaming from May 19 to June 7 for free. The 10-day festival presents more than 100 films by over 20 film festivals, including Sundance, Toronto, Tribeca, Venice and Cannes, and Berlin. The lineup covers narrative features, documentaries, short films, pre-recorded panel discussions with renown directors, and virtual Q & As. According to a CBS report, Tribeca CEO Jane Rosenthal said, “To put on a film festival and do this and collaborate with our colleagues globally, that wasn’t a challenge. It was an opportunity for us to do something that is bringing us all together, and also raise funds for these organizations that are helping the world fight this virus.”
“We Are One” Films are currently streaming at youtube.com/WeAreOne.
For more information on the We Are One Film Festival, visit their website.
Sundance Institute labs, intensives and sessions will take place on their digital platform, Sundance Co//ab through August 31, 2020. In response to the significantly increased unemployment rate among artists, Sundance makes all of their member webinars and Master Classes free to attend. In a response letter to COVID-19, Keri Putnam, the Executive Director of Sundance writes, “Over the last few weeks, we at Sundance have found ourselves passing around stories of artists who are finding new ways to provide hope and joy, bring people together, and lift up their communities.”
The 2020 Sundance film festival is now online for free on YouTube: https://2020Sundance Film Festival
Sundance’s FREE Master Classes at: https://collab.sundance.org/learn/master-classes
On April 23, SXSW launched a 10-day streaming version of their 2020 Film Festival on Amazon Prime Video. The Film Festival Collection included feature-length narrative films, documentaries, and shorts. It was free to stream for non-prime members till May 6. SXSW also offers a weekly series of programming featuring speakers in the industry sharing their experience and advice, along with a Q&A for a live streaming audience.
SXSW Sessions Online: https://schedule.sxsw.com
As the travel restriction and border control start to loosen in Europe, America, and East Asia, numerous International Film Festivals take an optimistic approach– to go on as planned. However, leaders at those Film Festivals have stressed that they understand the seriousness of the global pandemic and promise to shut down all live events in case the virus takes a terrible hit in their regions. Tickets and badges can be purchased online as usual.
The 73rd Cannes Film Festival was cancelled last month due to COVID-19. But on June 3, Cannes revealed to the Hollywood Reporter that it plans to stream its lineup at the screens of “partner festivals” in Toronto, New York, Tokyo, Rome, Mumbai, and more. Thierry Frémaux, Cannes artistic director, announced that 56 films will be screened at festivals later this year, if the festivals can proceed as planned. A number of movies chosen for this year will have to wait till 2021. Audiences can purchase tickets and badges on their website as usual.
On June 2, the Telluride Film Festival announced its plan to go on this September. According to IndieWire, organizers from Telluride emphasized that “things would look and feel very different.”
The 77th Venice Film Festival will take place at Venice Lido this September. There have been suggestions that the festival might take place at a different location than usual, depending on how Italy’s reopening policy affects the region.
Organizers at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) also have recently suggested that they are planning to have a live festival this year from September 25 to October 11. According to Film at Lincoln Center, it is “exploring a combination of both in-person and digital experiences.”
Other major International Film Festivals that decide to go on this fall include the 44th Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) from September 17 – September 27, the Tokyo International Film Festival in October, and the 64the BFI London Film Festival from October 7 to October 18.
If you’re interested in checking out what else is online, check out the upcoming best online film festivals of 2020 compiled by Film Freeway: https://www.moviemaker.com/the-best-online-film-festivals-of-2020-presented-by-filmfreeway/
About the Writer:
Lyra Woods is a Baltimore-based filmmaker and playwright. Her recent narrative short Freya won the Innovation II Film Festival (2020) and was nominated for Chinese American Film Festival’s Angel Award (2019). She’s also a writer of six produced short plays and one full-length, most recently, Paper Dream which won the 2020 Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting Award and showcased in New York, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, and Virginia.