Cannes’ new rule bans films from competition that don’t have theatrical distribution in France.
The feud between Netflix and the Cannes Film Festival is far from over.
Last month, the festival officially banned Netflix and other streaming services from submitting films to future competition lineups. Still, the festival will allow streamers to show their films out of competition, but they won’t be eligible for awards recognition.
Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the streaming giant is reportedly threatening to pull its films from the film festival.
The site notes that the move could impact several high-profile Netflix titles, including Paul Greengrass’s “Norway,” Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma,” Jeremy Saulnier’s “Hold the Dark” and a completed version of Orson Welle’s “The Other Side of the Wind.” A final decision won’t be made until Cannes unveils its film lineup on Thursday, April 12.
Last year, two Netflix films—Bong Joon-ho’s “Okja” and Noah Baumbach’s “The Meyerowitz Stories”— premiered in competition. However, the decision sparked ire from French filmmakers and unions because of Netflix’s streaming-only model.
Thus, following the 2017 festival, Cannes enacted a new rule requiring all competing films to have a French theatrical release.
Speaking with Le Film Francais, Cannes artistic director Theirry Fremaux discussed the decision, saying, “Last year, when we selected these two films, I thought I could convince Netflix to release them in cinemas. I was presumptuous, they refused.”
Fremaux added that streaming services like Netflix and Amazon are producing “hybrids” that are blurring the line between TV and film. “Cinema [still] triumphs everywhere even in this golden age of series,” Fremaux said. “The history of cinema and the history of the internet are two different things.”
With plans to release 80 original films in 2018 (plus Martin Scorsese’s gangster movie “The Irishman,” starring Robert De Niro, premiering in early 2019) Netflix is making cinema history, even if Cannes doesn’t think so.