Basically every 2020 event is canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the Venice Film Festival evidently didn't get the memo.
The Venice Film Festival, one of the most important film festivals each year where major movies are shown in the race to the Academy Awards, is still supposedly going forward. The president of the festival's parent group, Roberto Cicutto, said in an interview Monday it's not being postponed or canceled, and is still set to begin on Sept. 2, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The Cannes Film Festival, meanwhile, was postponed from May amid France's coronavirus lockdown. No new date has been set for Cannes, but organizers recently admitted it's "no longer an option" to move it to the end of June as they were hoping, adding "it is clearly difficult to assume" the festival can happen "in its original form" this year.
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Lockdown measures remain in place in Italy, which has confirmed more than 170,000 COVID-19 cases. But Cicutto expressed confidence that officials will permit the festival to open "six or seven circumscribed movie theaters" in September, although he noted international attendance is likely to be down, per the Reporter.
This news, the Reporter's Tatiana Siegel wrote, potentially signals "that awards season may not be affected by coronavirus" as has been widely expected. Still, The New York Times' Kyle Buchanan previously cast doubt on Venice proceeding this year, asking, "Will this devastated country really be ready to throw a glamorous film festival a few months from now? And will Hollywood stars be eager to travel to it?" The Times also reported that organizers have floated the idea of extending the Oscars' eligibility period to cover both movies released in 2020 and 2021.
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