Cannes (AFP)

After the shock of the cancellation of the Cannes Film Festival last May, the organizers of this world showcase of the 7th art are already thinking about a new health framework so that the 2021 edition is one of reunions, Covid-19 or not.

"Cannes 2021 will take place!", Hammered Tuesday evening in unison Thierry Frémaux, general delegate of the Cannes festival, and Pierre Lescure, its president, at the opening of the symbolic 2020 edition, which is held until 'on Thursday.

In a Palais des festivals half-filled, with a tonnage of 1,000 people, the tandem at the head of the world's largest film festival was reassuring.

"There is like a taste of Cannes 2021 tonight," said Mr. Frémaux, expressing his "emotion" to be on stage after the trauma represented by the cancellation of the festival last spring.

"We said to ourselves that we could not not come to Cannes this year (...) We wanted to come and show cinema, show films, artists," he added, launching this event which presents 4 films out of the 56 of the "official selection".

- Lay the groundwork for the 2021 edition -

At the same time as a celebration of cinema in these difficult times for the sector, this festival is therefore also a way of laying the groundwork for the 2021 edition.

Temperature measurement of the public before entering the Palais des Festivals, provision of hydroalcoholic gel, physical distancing in the queues, wearing of a mask ... "All the sanitary conditions have been taken", insisted Pierre Lescure.

A sign that the time has come for adaptability and flexibility, the screening sessions have even been brought forward by one hour to allow the public to re-enter before the curfew.

"Tonight is a demonstration that we can, and above all, that we must hold events in perfect sanitary conditions," said the mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, calling for "the state to declare" cultural emergency ".

"Culture is a source of life and provides a living for thousands of people. We can no longer cancel events (...)", he added to the heartening applause of the spectators.

Forced to reinvention, what will the 74th edition of the Cannes Film Festival look like?

Difficult for the hour to advance.

- Showcase of the 7th art -

Other film festivals have taken place in recent months, such as the one in San Sebastian (Spain) or the Venice Film Festival, which have demonstrated that it was possible despite the constraints of a pandemic.

If the concrete modalities of the 2021 edition are not yet known, it will be of capital importance for the 7th art.

Because the Cannes Film Festival is not only a glamorous event where international stars converge, it is above all a gigantic showcase for French and foreign films.

An enormous economic and cultural machine where 40,000 professionals and around 200,000 spectators converge each year, eagerly awaited by the profession.

This "responsibility" towards a sector, the cinema, and more generally, culture, was raised by Pierre Lescure, who recalled that the holding of this symbolic edition was also a way of supporting the entire chain of film professions.

The 2021 edition could coincide with a reboot of world cinema with the ambition to help bring it out of the doldrums it has been plunged into for months.

© 2020 AFP