As large events continue to drop like flies across the globe, film festivals are doing their best to try and adapt to survive. After SXSW was cancelled, we saw a (largely ill advised) deal made with Amazon in an attempt to drum up some streams for filmmakers who opted into the program to little success. Now, we're seeing Fantasia Film Fest try something entirely different.
Per THR , the film festival will now be shifting online rather than cancelling as many of its sister festivals have. Fantasia will run August 20th – September 2nd and will be subject to a new set of rules to match its new format. While ticket sales will be capped at similar attendance to their physical venues, they will also be geo-restricted to Canadian IP addresses. An expected move, but one that complicates international attendance and coverage from critics.
After-film Q&As and film competitions will continue as normal. Virtual attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions as they would at the physical festival, while the jury will screen titles remotely and deliberate online.
This decision comes after the festival had already cancelled its summer event. Discussions had occurred over moving the physical festival to later in the fall, but the season is already stacked with other festivals that are traditional scheduled during that timeframe. Of course, whether Telluride, Toronto, or Venice festivals happen currently remains up in the air.
May as well stream while you wait
Because movies!
Streaming's been the future for a while. In case you were holding out, now might be the right time to re-up that Hulu subscription. You can even program your very own film festival from home!
