Forty-one international film festivals as well as several trade organisations and unions representing the industry have signed a call addressed to national and regional institutions for immediate relief measures and to safeguard the current festival ecosystem at the national, regional and global level after the damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

In their document, the signatories highlight that, since March, spring events “have been obliged to cancel or postpone their 2020 editions, while the festivals due to be held later in the year have to play it by ear”. Moreover, the unstable climate and the extra expenses incurred represent a serious challenge to the festival ecosystem’s sustainability.

The call mentions the crucial importance of these events, which are “not only important contributors to the cultural, economic and social development of the territories where they are established, but they are also an essential link in the film industry chain, as they offer international outreach for films, distribution deal opportunities, reviews in the press and audience attention”.

Therefore, the signatories argue that their significant economic weight “needs to be preserved with dedicated measures and a firm commitment from local, national and regional decision-makers in accompanying festivals’ COVID-related transition, whether they can or cannot operate in 2020, and their future operations from 2021 onwards”.

The European gatherings that have signed the call include the Viennale (Austria), Sofia International Film Festival (Bulgaria), Tampere Film Festival (Finland), Tallinn Black Nights (Estonia), Cannes Film Festival (France), the Berlinale (Germany), Venice Film Festival (Italy), Krakow Film Festival (Poland), Warsaw Film Festival (Poland), San Sebastián Film Festival (Spain), Sitges Film Festival (Spain), Transilvania International Film Festival (Romania), Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland) and Molodist (Ukraine), among others. The co-signatories are FERA, FIA, FIAD, FIAPF, FSE, IVF, UNI MEI and UNIC.

The full text of the call is available here.