By RAY KELLY
It is increasingly unlikely that Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind ― or any Netflix film for that matter ― will be exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival next month.
Banned from competing and facing a chilly reception, Netflix may not make the trek to the French Riviera, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Sources told the trade paper that Netflix has threatened not to bring any titles to the prestigious event after festival director Thierry Fremaux said last month he won’t screen any Netflix films in competition. The situation is said to be fluid, and a final decision won’t be made until Cannes announces its official lineup on April 12. (Netflix has not responded to requests from Wellesnet for comment.)
Cannes, facing pressure from influential French theater owners, decided to ban Netflix films from competition unless they have a theatrical run there. Complicating matters is France’s Media Chronology Law, which prohibits films shown in theaters from being streamed on platforms like Netflix until 36 months after release. (Obviously, this is incompatible with Netflix’s successful business model.)
In recent weeks, Frémaux has publicly complained about Netflix’s “intransigence” and the difference between cinema and the internet.
Netflix had two films in the Cannes competition for the first time last year — Boon Joon-Ho’s Okja and Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories. There were reports traditionalists booed when the Netflix logo appeared on screen.
According to Vanity Fair, Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, Paul Greengrass’ Norway, Jeremy Saulnier’s Hold the Dark, Orson Welles’s The Other Side of the Wind, and Morgan Neville’s documentary They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, about Welles, are the Netflix movies that were scheduled to screen at Cannes next month.
The Other Side of the Wind’s absence would be sad since Cannes holds a special place for Wellesians.
Welles’ Othello received the Grand Prix in 1952, while Chimes at Midnight won prizes there 14 years later. Welles took home best actor honors at Cannes for his performance in Richard Fleischer’s Compulsion in 1959. And since his passing, Cannes has screened revivals of Citizen Kane and The Lady from Shanghai, a restored Othello and footage from his unfinished Don Quixote.
But it’s hard not to side with Netflix, which poured millions of dollars into producers Frank Marshall and Filip Jan Rymsza’s completion of The Other Side of the Wind when other established studios showed no interest in making cinematic history. It bankrolled the hiring of A-list talent like post-production supervisor Ruth Hasty, negative cutter Mo Henry, editor Bob Murawski, mixer Scott Millan and composer Michel Legrand.
Certainly, it will be wonderful if The Other Side of the Wind debuts in France, where its negative was stored for four decades ― but that now seems less likely.
It’s not the end of the world. There are other film festivals… Venice, Telluride, New York or perhaps Toronto, all of which could roll out the red carpet.
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