Cannes Film Festival 2020 postponed due to coronavirus

The 2020 Cannes Film Festival, originally scheduled for May 12–23, has been officially postponed due to the global health crisis. A new date has not been set, but late June to early July 2020 is considered likely. The press conference for the lineup and jury, planned for April 16, is also uncertain. A board member noted the impossibility of selecting films from China, Korea, Iran, Italy, and over 50 other countries given travel restrictions. The festival's main venue, the Lumière theater with 2,300 seats, may be unusable. The Cannes Film Market, a key industry event held concurrently, attracted 12,527 participants from 121 countries and 5,528 companies in 2019. The festival drew about 60,000 visitors, including over 5,000 journalists. Cancellation would cause severe damage to the film industry. Sponsors like Chopard, L'Oréal, and Renault prefer a blank year over health risks. A postponement to late summer or early autumn would clash with the Venice, Toronto, New York, and London film festivals. Other Cannes events already rescheduled include Mipim (moved to June), MipTV (cancelled), and CanneSéries (moved to October 9–14). The festival's viability remains at serious risk.