Due to covid-19 pandemic, the 9th edition of Curaçao IFFR (CIFFR), scheduled for April 21 to 26 2020 in Willemstad, Curaçao, has been cancelled. To continue to offer visibility to filmmakers from the Caribbean region, IFFR has made six previous winners of the Yellow Robin Award available to watch online in Curaçao and the Benelux until May 12 2020.
Amazon Prime Video and SXSW announced “Prime Video presents the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection” will launch on April 27, 2020 with 39 films, composed of narrative and documentary features, short films and episodic titles. Filmmakers in the official 2020 SXSW Film Festival lineup were invited to opt in to take part in this online film festival, which will play exclusively on Prime Video in the U.S. from April 27, 2020 thru May 6, 2020. The one-time event will be available in front of the Prime Video paywall, free to all U.S. audiences with or without an Amazon Prime membership — all that is needed is a free Amazon account.
Director Michèle Stephenson’s new documentary Stateless uncovers the complex history and present-day politics of Haiti and the Dominican Republic through the grassroots electoral campaign of a young attorney named Rosa Iris. The documentary will world premiere at the down-sized 2020 Tribeca Film Festival.
Due to the ongoing circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Napa Valley Film Festival which was slated to take place in November 2020, announced that the festival will now be held the following year from November 10 – 14, 2021.
Ahead of Earth Day, National Geographic Documentary Films announced a new documentary short, Akashinga: The Brave Ones. Executive produced by three-time Academy Award winner James Cameron and directed by Maria Wilhelm, executive director of the Avatar Alliance Foundation, the film tells the story of Akashinga, the all-female anti-poaching unit in Zimbabwe that is facing down poachers and saving wildlife. Akashinga: The Brave Ones will have its world premiere at the EarthxFilm Festival, which will be held virtually April 22 to 27 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The documentary short is also an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival and will broadcast on National Geographic later this year in 171 countries and 43 languages.
Cannes Film Festival is running out of options for a 2020 festival, following the French President’s statement on Monday banning any large festivals and events with large audiences before mid-July at the earliest.
EarthxFilm unveiled its lineup of virtual programming celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, including 36 features and shorts; virtual options for XR experiences; various filmmaker, youth leader live-streams, Q&A’s, panels, live music and EarthxFilmYouth programming. Kicking off with Music on April 17 at 6:00PM EST, EarthxFilm will present the bulk of its programming, including Brett Falentine’s FIRE ON THE HILL: THE COWBOYS OF SOUTH CENTRAL L.A., Alexander John Glustrom’s MOSSVILLE: WHEN GREAT TREES FALL, David Byars’ PUBLIC TRUST, and Deia Schlosberg’s THE STORY OF PLASTIC on April 22-27.
499, the fourth feature film by director Rodrigo Reyes, will have its world premiere as part of the official documentary competition at the 19th edition of the Tribeca Film Festival, followed by its Canadian premiere in the International Spectrum competition at the 2020 edition of the Hot Docs International Documentary Festival in Toronto.
Oxford Film Festival unveiled its Weekly Virtual Film Festival series showcasing films that were programmed for the 2020 edition of the popular film festival. Beginning with the first week, scheduled for April 24-May 1, the Oxford Film Festival will roll out a different series of films each successive week, with themed presentations, throughout the summer and fall as an initial alternative to film festival that was postponed from March.
Miami Film Festival will present online the World Premiere of the Canadian documentary They Call Me Dr. Miami, directed by Jean-Simon Chartier, after the original world premiere at its 37th edition in March was cancelled due to a mid-festival termination of public screenings, out of concern for health and safety during the worldwide coronavirus pandemic outbreak.
Cleveland International Film Festival revealed the details about CIFF44 Streams, part of CIFF44 Reinvented, the re-imagined 2020 festival in response to COVID-19 epidemic. CIFF44 Streams will give film lovers the ability to create a personalized Festival experience from their homes during this important time of social distancing.
