The Corona Virus: Letter from the Board

Dear Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you well and in a safe environment, in these terrible times. I want to tell you that, on this side of the line, everything is under control, for now. We are continuing our work for FIPRESCI.  

In the last weeks, more and more festivals (in March, April, May) were postponed or cancelled or moved to an online version. How do we react?

In the case of festivals which have cancelled the current edition or postponed it to a later date, we have, of course, informed all colleagues (and their sections) who had requested participation, and we will contact them again as soon as a new date has been fixed – to find out if they are still interested and available.

In a few cases, we received an invitation to participate in an online festival with an online jury (Vilnius, Nyon, Oberhausen, and Ankara Flying Broom). This would be a rather incisive change of our politics. We want to discuss this at our next general assembly. (It is planned to again take place in the framework of the International Film Festival Miskolc, Hungary, from September 11-19, 2020.)

However, in the contemporary state of emergency and catastrophe, and with the intention of helping the festivals, we will check every offer of an online jury (for now it concerns the festivals of Oberhausen and Ankara Flying Broom, more festivals may follow). Candidates need to agree to do the jury job at home. The regular participation fee will be cancelled.

We will publish all available information on the members’ area of our website:  www.fipresci.org (fipresci_member/truffaut).

Let’s hope that these measures are necessary only for a short period of time. Let’s hope that we all can soon return to our regular life.

Take good care and stay healthy

Munich, March 31, 2020
Klaus Eder
For the Board of FIPRESCI