Insisting they were 'not oblivious' over the epidemic, president Pierre Lescure assures that the 2020 edition will be canceled if the situation does not improve in the weeks to come.
- March 12, 2020
AceShowbiz - Cannes Film Festival President Pierre Lescure has admitted the annual event will be cancelled if the coronavirus situation does not improve in France by April.
Bosses at the festival recently assured that everyone involved was "currently working on the organisation of the event" but, speaking to French publication Le Figaro, Lescure insisted they were "not oblivious" and that if the situation doesn't improve, they will cancel this edition.
However, he added the committee was "reasonably optimistic in the hope that the peak of the epidemic will be reached at the end of March and that we will breathe a little better in April."
He also responded to a media report yesterday claiming the festival had surprisingly declined an insurance policy to cover itself for epidemics a couple of weeks ago, which was offered to organisers by firm Circle Group.
"This offer was made to us about ten days ago, but it was totally disproportionate," he said. "We were only offered to cover ourselves up to $2.3 million (£1.8 million) while our budget is $36 million (£27.9 million). It was really peanuts. The company was clearly playing the bounty hunters and we of course declined this proposal."
Although the festival will not be covered in the instance of a cancellation, Lescure said the event has an endowment fund that will allow it to survive skipping an edition, if necessary.
