Netflix Threatens to Snub Cannes After Row Over Competition Rules

The ongoing spat between Netflix and the Cannes Film Festival has worsened, with the streaming service reportedly threatening to withdraw five of its films from the festival.

Netflix, an American entertainment company, has been effectively barred from Cannes’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, after the festival’s artistic director Thierry Frémaux confirmed last month that all films competing for the award would need to have a cinema release in France, The Telegraph reported.

French law demands a gap of 36 months between a film’s cinema release and its appearance on streaming platforms, a major obstacle for on-demand services such as Netflix.

Last year, two Netflix films were entered for the Palme d’Or, but after Netflix’s refusal to give the films a full cinema release caused widespread controversy, the festival board changed the rules to prevent it happening again, and issued an apology for any “anxiety” caused. In response, Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings wrote on Facebook, “The establishment is closing ranks against us.”

Now it seems that if Netflix cannot compete for the top award, the company would rather shun Cannes entirely. Vanity Fair reports that five Netflix films set for a Cannes premiere are in danger of being pulled: Norway, a biopic about the terrorist Anders Breivik from Jason Bourne director Paul Greengrass; Hold the Dark, a thriller starring Alexander Skarsgård; Roma, a family drama directed by Oscar-winner Alfonso Cuarón; They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, a documentary about Orson Welles; and a restored version of Welles’s unfinished film The Other Side of the Wind.