YouTube To Launch A 10-Day Digital Film Festival With Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca

YouTube is planning to launch a 10-day digital film festival.

A number of movies were pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Several film festivals have also decided to postpone their events and YouTube has stepped in to continue the trend of going digital by launching a 10-day digital film festival called “We Are One: A Global Film Festival” in spring, Variety reported.

YouTube has 20 partners and will be streaming free to cinema fans worldwide. The online film festival will be produced and organized by New York’s Tribeca Enterprises. It will feature programming from 20 top film festivals including Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and Venice Film Festival.

The YouTube-hosted event will run from May 29 to June 7, 2020 and will be available on youtube.com/weareone. Viewers are welcome to watch the different entries for free. The programs will not include ads and will feature films, shorts, documentaries, music, comedy and panel discussions. The organizers have not identified which films are expected to be screened for the “We Are One” fest but a full schedule will be released in the coming weeks.

“We Are One: A Global Film Festival unites curators, artists and storytellers to entertain and provide relief to audiences worldwide,” Jane Rosenthal, head of Tribeca Enterprises and Tribeca Film Festival, said in a prepared statement. “In working with our extraordinary festival partners and YouTube we hope that everyone gets a taste of what makes each festival so unique and appreciates the art and power of film.”

Cannes Film Festival remains up in the air because director Thierry Frémaux doesn’t want to cancel it. According to him, he wants to push through with it to “contribute” to the society because reopening theaters would be beneficial to the economy.

Frémaux also shared that Cannes is open to collaborating with other film festivals. In fact, he already discussed some things with Venice director Alberto Barbera if Cannes were to be canceled. On Monday, Frémaux released a statement about the partnership with other film festivals and YouTube.

“We are proud to join with our partner festivals to spotlight truly extraordinary films and talent, allowing audiences to experience both the nuances of storytelling from around the world and the artistic personalities of each festival,” Frémaux said in a joint statement with Cannes Film Festival President Pierre Lescure released.