This time it's the right one.
It's been almost a year and a half that the Cannes Film Festival has been waiting to reinvest in the Croisette.
The 74th edition, which opens Tuesday evening, will have had a history full of twists and turns, according to the evolutions of the health crisis.
Back on the chaotic preparations for this edition which almost never took place.
Read also: Cannes Film Festival: everything you need to know about this edition of resurrection, off the beaten track
To understand where the 74th Cannes Film Festival comes from, we have to go back to March 2020. While France confines itself to the advance of the coronavirus, large international gatherings, all over the world, are canceled one after the other. Cannes is on the front line. Scheduled for May, its fate seems more than uncertain although many are struggling to understand the extent of the health crisis. Reached by
Le Figaro
on March 10, a week before the start of the first confinement, Pierre Lescure does not flinch.
"We remain reasonably optimistic in hoping that the peak of the epidemic is reached at the end of March and that we breathe a little better in April,"
he said. Before adding:
“But we are not oblivious. If not, we will cancel. ”
Three days later, in the columns of the
World
, Thierry Frémaux said he was betting on an improvement in the health situation by May, just in time for the festival. The general delegate hopes that Cannes will be
"the first planetary event of life rediscovered".
On March 14, the Cannes film festival denies
"rumors"
about its cancellation. This denial comes after a member of the board of directors told
Point
that the event may not have a 73rd edition. For the sake of responding to "
certain sensational titles
", the festival insists that "
there is no new element
" supporting the cancellation of the event. Appointment is taken
"around mid-April
" to announce "
the decision which will be necessary".
Very quickly, this serene communication was thwarted by the evolution of the health situation. As of mid-April, France is still confined. On the 13th, Emmanuel Macron announces that “
major festivals and events with large audiences cannot be held until at least mid-July next
”. The organizers
"take note of the impossibility of organizing Cannes in July"
... But do not budge: Cannes 2020 must take place. They confirm the day after the presidential address their intention to postpone the high mass of international cinema without knowing when or what form to give it.
"The Cannes Film Festival (...) must continue to study all the possibilities for supporting the cinema year by bringing the films of Cannes 2020 into existence in one way or another"
, say the organizers.
On April 15, in an interview with
Le Figaro
, Thierry Frémaux repeats that he and his collaborators are
"the first and the last"
to still believe in a 2020 edition. They indeed seem a little alone in the world, while the campaign continues. litany of festival cancellations, including many scheduled long after Cannes and throughout the summer. What forms could this international festival take as long as the extra-European borders remain closed? This measure prohibits the arrival of a large number of artists in France - without mentioning the restrictions that apply to them in each of their countries. The general delegate then outlines two scenarios.
“The future is more uncertain than ever. It can be dark: all festivals can be canceled, including those in early fall. It may clear up as summer approaches, ”he
anticipates. Between clarity and darkness, it is the second that will win.
A month later, on May 10, in a new interview with
Le Figaro
, Pierre Lescure finally resolves to utter the hated word.
"The edition of Cannes 2020 in its traditional form is canceled"
, declares the president of the event, who hastens to add that
"Cannes must not draw the curtain"
.
The stake of a Cannes 2020, whose outfit is fiercely sustained, will be
"to be able to accompany the reopening of theaters in one form or another when the time comes, which has not yet been completely decided"
.
Read also: The Cannes Film Festival is still looking for a solution to avoid cancellation
In June, Pierre Lescure and Thierry Frémaux therefore unveiled a list of 56 films labeled
“Cannes 2020”
which should have been screened out of competition, in the parallel sections or for the Palme d'Or.
“We are sent wonderful films from everywhere and it is our duty - and our desire!
- to help them exist and find the public.
This label makes it possible to promote the films that we have seen and to navigate the maze that will be the organization of their release in the fall, ”
explains Thierry Frémaux.
Read also: Cannes Film Festival: many films around the corner
As autumn approaches, the organization is working on a small “
extraordinary edition
”, with the screening of four films from the “
Cannes 2020 official selection
”.
“Out of the ordinary”
, this edition will be and the management of Cannes makes no secret of it: it will be an ersatz Cannes, a meager consolation to close an
annus horribilis
. Thierry Frémaux, in an interview with AFP on the occasion of the Lumière festival in Lyon, said he was impatient to forget the nightmarish year 2020. “
We expect Cannes 2021 to be a beautiful party, with lots of good films
», He already rejoices.
Precisely, on September 29, the dates of the next Cannes Film Festival are announced: an appointment is made from May 11 to 22, 2021.
Read also: The Cannes Film Festival raises its head for a symbolic edition
A reduced version with public screenings takes place at the last minute before the second confinement, between October 27 and 29.
Only four films from the official selection are screened.
The event is hardly talked about, because the whole of the cultural life of the country - including cinemas - is about to lower the curtain for the second time of the year.
Well aware that everything may not go as planned, Thierry Frémaux takes the opportunity to announce the two rescue dates if May arrives too early: either the first half of July, or the first half of August.
Between October 27 and 29, 2020 in Cannes, only four films from the official selection are screened.
Valery HACHE / AFP
Read also: Reconfinement: the curtain is closing again on culture
The new year is not really a better start. "
I have the hope that Cannes 2021 will be the event of the reconquest, of the beginning of the return to life
", declared Thierry Frémaux in September. The stagnation of the epidemic on a high plateau, and the spread of the English variant, force the management of the festival to take the lead. On January 27, the organizers announced that the 2021 edition of the festival was postponed to July, from 6 to 17. If the previous year, Cannes had been slow to shift, this time, the festival is taking the lead. Without waiting for spring and the impact of the current vaccination campaign, the organizers are
"depending on the evolution of the global health situation"
.
Read also: The 2021 Cannes Film Festival postponed to July, due to the pandemic
Spring, the usual festival season, begins.
And rarely has the uncertainty been so great.
The closer the specter of a third confinement is, the more the regulars of Cannes doubt the holding of the event, even postponed to July.
As in the previous year, the festival is scheduled to take place at a pivotal moment in the health crisis.
Taking place two months later, at the beginning of September, the Venice Mostra intends to offer a 100% physical edition, and benefits from a schedule that we imagine more lenient.
Several times cursed by dates not conducive to anticipation, the Cannes Film Festival does not seem to be able to prepare the reunion serenely.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Yet - is it to convince themselves that they are not preparing in vain? - the organizers appoint
“again”
Spike Lee as president of the jury. The previous year, the American director had accepted the role. The announcement was made on March 16, just a year after the start of the first confinement. Like a snub to fate, unless it is a refusal to see the story stammer. In a press release, the organizers of the event greet Spike Lee as a
"powerful support"
and specify:
"Faithful to his commitments, the American director had promised to accompany the Festival for its return to the Croisette.
A few lines in the form of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
On May 15, the festival says it will postpone the announcement of its selection by one week, from Thursday May 27 to Thursday June 3. The explanation? Thierry Frémaux's selection committee has received so many feature films to watch that it needs an extra week to do it in good conditions. This will be the ultimate calendar adjustment for a 73rd edition decidedly hit hard and several times by the health situation. For the first time in its history, the Cannes Film Festival will be held in early July. And will begin its "
beginning of the return to life
".
