But there was so much more intangible benefits to this Cannes, and regular attendees won’t soon forget it. Even six weeks ago, it was an open question whether Thierry Fremaux would be able to hold an in-person gathering because of a lag of Covid vaccinations there and in other countries, and the lagging progress toward global herd immunity.
Meetings with the organizers of several upcoming international festivals indicated they’ve taken great optimism from Cannes, which served as the proverbial canary in a coal mine for them. Rome Film Festival’s Antonio Monda was sparked to present lifetime achievement awards to iconic directors Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton in the fall, and all festivals were moving full speed ahead, though mindful that a Covid outbreak could thwart their big plans.
“The theatrical releasing business is going to continue to be very challenging, at a minimum for the remainder of this year internationally and possibly well beyond that depending on what happens with the pandemic,” Ford told Deadline. “That was clear with nearly every distributor I spoke to.