CHRISTIAN PETZOLD

This year, three of the four major fall film festivals, including Venice, are going forward despite the pandemic. This year, three of the four major fall film festivals all but Telluride, which had to cancel are going forward despite the pandemic. For a season predicated on badge-wearing throngs and marquee movies, its meant rethinking what a film festival is. A situation like this forces you to assess what is fundamental, says Dennis Lim, director of programming for the New York Film Festival. Anyone in Canada will be able to buy tickets to TIFF screenings, and New York Film Festival films will be briefly available nationwide.

VENICE Australian actress Cate Blanchett said Wednesday she is baffled that other countries didnt learn from Italys pain to be better prepared to fight the coronavirus outbreak when it spread. Blanchett, who is heading the jury at the virus-restricted Venice Film Festival, arrived on the Lido wearing a surgical mask and skipped the typical water taxi photo op that stars have long used. At an opening-day press conference, Blanchett was asked whether she feared coming to Italy, the first country in the West to be slammed by COVID-19. Hospitals, cemeteries and morgues were overflowing in nearby Lombardy, which became the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe. They will award the coveted Golden Lion and other awards to winners of the 18 in-competition films when the festival wraps up Sept. 12.

NEW YORK This year's New York Film Festival will be held largely virtually and in outdoor screenings, organizers said Thursday while unveiling a lineup featuring new films from Chloe Zhao, Steve McQueen and Azazel Jacobs. Many of the films selected by Film at Lincoln Center, which presents the New York Film Festival, will also play at the Venice and Toronto festivals. As previously announced, the 58th New York Film Festival will kick off with McQueen's Lovers Rock"; Chloe Zhao's Nomadland is the centerpiece; and Azazel Jacobs' French Exit, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges. Last year, Martin Scorsese's Irishman debuted opening night at the New York Film Festival. The 58th New York Film Festival will run a week earlier, from Sept. 17Oct.

FILE - In this Friday, Aug. 31, 2018 file photo, actress Cate Blanchett poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'A Star Is Born' at the 75th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy. The lineup for the Venice Film Festival will be announced on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, and will be the first major film event since the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Barbera noted that almost half of the competition film selections this year are directed by women. The decision to hold the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival is experienced like a sign of confidence in dnd concrete support of the world of film and the audiovisual industry, Barbera said. Cannes and Telluride were cancelled and others like Venice and the Toronto International Film Festival have had to get creative and scale back where possible in order to proceed.