Having debuted Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories at last years Cannes Film Festival, it appears that audiences won’t get a chance to boo the Netflix logo this year, with the streaming giants announcing that they won’t be attending the festival in the wake of their competition ban.
Coming fresh off the back of the news that 2013’s Cannes head of jury, Steven Spielberg revealed that he believed Netflix films were TV movies that shouldn’t qualify for the Oscars, it’s another blow struck in the war between traditional and modern movie consumption.
Nefllix chief content officer Ted Serandos told Variety that, “We want our films to be on fair ground with every other filmmaker. There’s a risk in us going in this way and having our films and filmmakers treated disrespectfully at the festival. They’ve set the tone. I don’t think it would be good for us to be there.”
This news means that some highly anticipated Netflix films will no longer screen at Cannes, including Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, Paul Greengrass’ Norway, and Jeremy Saulnier’s Hold the Dark.
What do you make of this decision? Do you agree with Cannes stance that Netflix movies shouldn’t qualify for festival competition, or should they move with the times considering the streaming networks huge slate of films due for release? Let us know in the comments below…
Michael Fisher says
I don’t know enough about the Cannes rules, but Netflix could surely arrange a limited cinema release.