The Colorado-based Telluride Film Festival, which last year saw the debut of multiple acclaimed hits including Uncut Gems and Ford v. Ferrari, is the latest to bite the global pandemic dust as this year’s event has officially been cancelled, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
RELATED: American Black Film Festival is Getting Virtual Edition
“After months of intense due diligence around physically holding an event, we’ve come to the heartbreaking but unanimous conclusion to cancel this year’s Labor Day celebration of film in Telluride,” the festival organizers wrote in a statement.
Telluride, which typically launches over Labor Day weekend, is well-known for going hand-in-hand with the start of the Academy Awards season, frequently premiering of screening films sure to catch the attention of Academy voters. Though with this year’s awards ceremony delayed and with a rise in cases across the country as people try and race back to normality with the reopening of some businesses, the festival organizers have come to the decision to cancel it outright rather than their original safety-conscious plan.
“Until the past week or so, we had a very good plan to put on the SHOW safely,” the statement read. “But with a seemingly unending number of new cases of Covid-19 and the national chaos around it, even the best strategy is threatened by this out of control environment. No matter how much many of us wear our masks and observe social distancing protocols, the pandemic has worsened rather than improved and the health and safety of you – our passholders, filmmakers, the people of Telluride and its surrounding areas – cannot be compromised. “
Though this year’s event has been cancelled, the organizers confirmed that they will still be announcing the full list of titles they had planned for their program, many of which previously premiered at the New York, Toronto International and Venice film festivals, in hopes that “you will experience as we did, the best in film this year.”
“There are some incredible, powerful, and beautiful gems and we’re excited to extol their virtues when the time is right,” the organizers wrote. “Follow these titles, support them. We intend to champion them outside of the festival as best we can.“
RELATED: Fantasia Virtual Announces Second Wave of Titles!
The organizers also express their “enormous” gratitude for those who support the festival every year and assure that they will be announcing further details regarding the program and passes in an upcoming email.
ComingSoon.net recommends all readers comply with CDC guidelines and remain as isolated as possible during this urgent time.
(Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images)
