After months of vowing to persevere despite the pandemic, the Telluride Film Festival capitulated on Tuesday, announcing the cancellation of this year’s event, scheduled for September 3-7 at Tony Colorado enclave.
The festival is seen as a key stop in the run-up to the Oscars: Over the past decade, seven top film winners, including “The Shape of Water” and “Moonlight,” were screened from the start in the former mining town. .
“After months of intense due diligence surrounding the physical celebration of an event, we have reached the heartbreaking but unanimous conclusion of canceling this year’s Labor Day film celebration at Telluride,” organizers said in a statement. . “But with an endless number of new Covid-19 cases and the national chaos surrounding it, even the best strategy is threatened by this out-of-control environment.”
Organizers, who traditionally keep the festival lineup a secret until the day before it begins, say they will still publish their agenda to highlight what they see as “the best in the movie this year.”
Telluride’s cancellation is yet another element of the award season ecosystem that has been altered by the coronavirus. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced last month that it would delay the broadcast of Oscar 2021 from the end of February to April 25, hoping that the extended period will allow filmmakers more time to finish their films and release them, either in theaters. or on a transmission platform.
Last week, Telluride released a letter of solidarity with three other fall film festivals that in a normal year would compete fiercely with each other for the most animated films of the year. According to the letter, Telluride, the Toronto International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival agreed to cooperate, share information and support each other at the events.
“The art form we love is in crisis,” wrote the four festivals. “Our own organizations have seen unprecedented challenges to our work and our financial security. The pandemic caught us all as we prepared for the biggest event of our year in the fall of 2020. We knew we had to adapt. We decided to collaborate like never before. “
Late last month, Toronto festival organizers announced that they intended to hold a shortened version of their event, featuring just 50 films, up from 300 that premiered in 2019. They are also planning a digital platform that allow screenings and other events. to be performed virtually.
The Venice Film Festival still intends to function as planned from September 2 to September 12. In the spring, the New York Film Festival, scheduled for September 25 to October 25. 11 said she was exploring a hybrid model similar to the Toronto plans.