Netflix pulls out of Cannes fest

LOS ANGELES: Netfl ix’s chief content officer said in an interview published on Wednesday the streaming giant would not attend this year’s Cannes Film Festival because of a change in French regulations.

Speaking to the industry magazine Variety, Ted Sarandos said the festival — whose selection will be made public on Thursday — had instituted a new rule prohibiting any fi lm without a theatrical distribution in

France from competing for main prizes.

“We want our fi lms to be on fair ground with every other fi lmmaker,” Sarandos said. “There’s a risk in us going in this way and having our fi lms and fi lmmakers treated disrespectfully at the festival.”

“They’ve set the tone. I don’t think it would be good for us to be there.”

Netflix showed two fi lms at the prestigious fi lm festival last year — but triggered scandal over its refusal to show “Okja” in French cinemas before distributing it for streaming to its subscribers.

The streaming giant also showed the fi lm “The Meyerowitz Stories” by Noah Baumbach at the festival.

French law stipulates movies cannot be available for home streaming until three years after a cinematic premiere.

The timeline is considered largely obsolete due to a spike in piracy and streaming platforms in the United States like Netfl ix and Amazon. Netflix has voiced willingness to taking fi lms to French theatres — but refuses to wait three years to make it available on its platform. — AFP