Cannes festival drama over Netflix films
70th edition of the famous film festival begins today, but a streaming service row has dominated the build-up
Today sees the start of the Cannes Film Festival but the star-studded event has made its own drama with controversy over whether films made by streaming platforms should be eligible for competition without being shown in French cinemas first.
Two productions by streaming platform Netflix - Noah Baumbach’s drama The Meyerowitz Stories, starring Dustin Hoffman and Adam Sandler, and Bong Joon Ho’s fantasy epic Okja, starring Tilda Swinton – are official entries in the competition for the prestigious Palme D’Or.
However, since neither film was originally slated for French cinema release after first being shown online, the National Federation of French Cinemas (FNCF) complained strongly to festival organisers.
Jean Labadie, the head of the federation, said on Twitter: "Netflix clearly wants the death of cinemas".
When negotiations over the two films’ future theatre release failed, Cannes boss Thierry Frémaux, announced a modification to competition rules for 2018. "From now on, any film that wishes to compete in Cannes will have to commit itself to being distributed in French cinemas,” said a statement.
“The Festival de Cannes is aware of the anxiety aroused by the absence of the release in theatres of those films in France,” the statement added. “The festival asked Netflix in vain to accept that these two films could reach the audience of French movie theatres and not only its subscribers. Hence the festival regrets that no agreement has been reached.”
Both films will remain in competition this year.
The row has put the film festival at the heart of a debate over film fans’ preferred viewing methods.
Ted Sarandos, director of content for Netflix, said cinemas needed to adapt and that the festival should stick to "celebrating the arts", regardless of platforms. "Historically, many films arrive at the Cannes festival without any distribution," he told a press conference. And Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, accused cinemas of "strangling cinema”.
In France, rules state that once a film has had a cinema release, it cannot be streamed online for three years – which is too long for subscribers to wait, says the streaming service.
The other main streaming platform that makes original content, Amazon, is more willing to give its films a cinema airing first. It has period drama Wonderstruck, starring Julianne Moore, in competition at Cannes this year.
This year’s festival begins with a gala screening of French drama Ismael’s Ghosts, starring Marion Cotillard and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The festival jury is headed by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, while jury members include actors Will Smith and Jessica Chastain.
Nicole Kidman and Joaquin Phoenix will also be walking the Croisette’s red carpet during the festival.
Eagerly awaited screenings include Happy End, the latest offering by two-time Palme d’Or winner Michael Haneke.
The festival's 2017 poster caused controversy when it was released, after accusations that a young Claudia Cardinale's waist and thighs had been airbrushed.
