While festivals and public events everywhere are cancelling left and right due to the coronavirus, one that is staying the course is the Cannes Film Festival which is insisting it will continue.
However, a new report at Variety indicates that the organisers were offered a buy-back option by their insurance company to cover epidemics and pandemics. Basically it would have insured them if the event is cancelled due to coronavirus.
However, they reportedly declined it. Making it more shocking is the offer was made only last week when the wave of event cancellations had begun. So if Cannes is cancelled, and the French government could well stop it from happening if desired, the festival won’t have any coverage to alleviate a potential financial disaster. The festival carries a budget of around $22 million and is financed by French taxpayers and corporate sponsors.
UK film sales company GFM has announced it won’t be attending Cannes due to coronavirus fear, and it’s expected others will soon follow suit. The Cannes Film Festival, should it proceed, is expected to begin on May 12th.
