TheWrap magazine: It’ll be a Cannes Film Festival like no other — here are the reasons why
This story about the Cannes Film Festival first appeared in TheWrap’s special digital Cannes magazine. This year’s Cannes Film Festival, which begins on Tuesday, takes place in July, not May, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is still affecting everything. Here are some of the ways in which the 2021 Cannes will be unlike any of the 73 festivals that preceded it. Fewer people The festival and the Marche du Film market have estimated that 20,000 people will attend this year’s festival, about half the number who normally attend. More people Unlike the festival’s usual mid-May slot, July is peak season for tourists in the south of France. That means the people there to see movies and make deals will be competing with people there to hang out on the beach and relax. More films After averaging 20 films per year over the past decade, the Main Competition consists of 24 films, the most it’s had since 1974. And when you throw in the addition of two new sections, Cannes Premiere and Cinema for the Climate,2021’s total of 82 films in the official selection is far above the 57 that the festival has averaged. And that doesn’t even count the seven new cinema documentaries that will play alongside 24 restored films in the Cannes Classics section. More theaters A new multiplex called the Cineum is opening in Cannes this summer, and the festival will use four of its 12 screens. Unlike other Cannes theaters, it is not inside the Palais or within walking distance; according to organizers, it’s a 15-minute car ride away.
