news Tribeca Film Festival Postponed Over Coronavirus

The 2020 edition of the Tribeca Film Festival has been postponed, sources from the New York fest confirmed to IndieWire on Thursday, due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. This year’s Tribeca was slated to run April 15 to 26 throughout New York City, and, for the first time ever, in New Jersey.

“We founded the Tribeca Film Festival as a way to heal our community after the devastation of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. We were determined to overcome our fear and anxiety by joining together,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder and CEO, Tribeca Enterprises, in a statement. “It is in our DNA to march forward while caring about our community. We have made the difficult decision to postpone the 19th Tribeca Film Festival (April 15-26) based on the announcement by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that events of 500 people or more are banned due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. We are committed to ensuring the health and safety of the public while also supporting our friends, filmmakers and storytellers who look to Tribeca as a platform to showcase their work to audiences. We will be back to you shortly with our plans.”

The news of the flagship New York film festival’s postponement arrives on the heels of a wave of cancellations and postponements throughout the industry and in New York, where on Thursday governor Andrew Cuomo called for the temporary shutdown of Broadway performances. Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art also announced closures. The 49th New Directors/New Films will also be postponed, as will the 46th Chaplin Award Gala honoring Spike Lee. On a national level, Walt Disney Company will close their California theme parks — yet another announcement on Thursday amid many ongoing shutdowns in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Head to Tribeca’s website for more information on ticket refunds and details going forward. A future date for the festival has yet to be announced. This year’s narrative feature program included 124 filmmakers from 33 different countries, including 95 world premieres. The shorts section featured 64 short films from 20 different countries.

A full rundown of all the ways the coronavirus is changing the entertainment landscape around the world is available via IndieWire here.
 
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