Pandemic ensures a bumper 2021 Cannes Film Festival
This year’s event is packed with more films to make up for the cancellation of last year’s festival
The only things powerful enough to stop the Cannes Film Festival from happening in its 75-year history were World War 2 — the inaugural edition in 1939 was cancelled after Hitler’s invasion of Poland, putting the festival on ice until 1946; May 1968 — protests were made by a number of participants in solidarity with the popular uprisings sweeping France; and 2020, when Covid-19 put paid to the usually much anticipated gathering of glamorous stars and directors on the famous Boulevard de Croisette in the French Riviera.
This year’s festival is thus bumper packed with more films, while also occurring two months later than usual, smack bang in the middle of European summer holiday season, and under strict Covid-19 protocols. These necessitate vaccinations and testing and offer less available audience spaces for screenings...
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