Cannes film festival still on track, but television festival cancelled over coronavirus
MIPTV, one of the world's biggest television and entertainment markets, has been cancelled because of the coronavirus, the organisers said Wednesday. The huge gathering in the French Riviera resort of Cannes was due to take place from March 30 to April 2.
Issued on: Modified:
Thousands of programme makers and TV and streaming services executives usually descend on the Mediterranean town every year for the market.
Canneseries, which runs in parallel to MIPTV, has also been postponed until October.
However, for the moment, the 73rd Cannes Film Festival, which is due to take place from May 12th to Mary 23rd, still appears to be on track, according to organisers.
In fact, according to a statement on the Cannes Festival website, requests for accreditations continue to rise with an increase of 9% on last year.
During the week, organisers they were monitoring the situation and consulting with the French authorities.
If the festival goes ahead, the Jury of the Competition, led by the director Spike Lee, will grant the Palme d’Or among the films and will be announced at the end of the Festival
Meanwhile, MIPTV, which last year gathered together 9,500 executives form the global world of film and television has been postponed until October, as has the festival that runs alongside it,
"In the current context, many of our clients have expressed concerns about travelling at this time," said Paul Zilk, the head of Reed MIDEM, which runs MIPTV as well as the still larger MIPCOM market in Cannes in October.
"Rescheduling MIPTV in the coming months is not feasible so the most appropriate course of action is to cancel," he added.
South Korea -- which has been badly hit by the virus -- was to be "country of honour" in this year's market.
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe