At this point, the Cannes Film Festival was the last bulwark standing. Not so long ago, a representative of the contest told the magazine ' Le point' that it was very difficult "almost impossible" that it could be held. Quickly, the specialized media took him for an almost formal resignation statement. And the management, with its delegate general, the almighty Thierry Frémaux, at the head, ran to deny the verbal lightness of one of his colleagues. Until April 15, a day before announcing the official selection of films, nothing would have been decided.

Well, on Thursday night, the festival team (that was the signature) sent an email urbe et orbi with the more than evident and expected resignation. "Today we have made the following decision," the letter reads. And after two points, it continues: "The Cannes Film Festival cannot be held on the scheduled dates, from May 12 to 23. There are several working hypotheses being studied to preserve all the work done so far." And among all these hypotheses "the main one", it is said, "is its postponement for the end of June or the beginning of July ".

Thus falls the last and most important of the annual cultural events that still stood. All a symbol. Keep in mind that the festival was only canceled in 1968 because of the famous May. From the barricades of then to the viruses of today.

Yesterday it was learned that the Market section was studying the possibility of being held ' online '. Strictly speaking, this is not part of the structure of the festival, but it is, due to its economic importance, what keeps it going. It is there, in this section reserved for the industry, where the future of world cinema is decided: the independent in its entirety and a good part of the commercial .

Once this was known, there was speculation about the distant possibility of doing the same with the rest. Something, almost by definition, impossible. There is no virtual red carpet with a minimum of meaning. And glamor, of course.

The organization entrusted everything to the possibility of reducing the capacity of the rooms and of limiting the number of accreditations to respect the minimum restrictions already universally agreed. However, such a measure did not take into account the uneven evolution of the pandemic. If held under these conditions, perhaps European cinema, in the best of hypotheses, would be there. But is a film festival possible without the industry and the American stars? For the rest, would the Asian market (Chinese and Korean in particular) approach the French Riviera with the risk of returning to attend a new outbreak of the disease? In short, for the moment, June or July. We will see.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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