Shanghai Film Festival canceled in response to China’s Kovit escalation

Official: The 25th Shanghai International Film Festival has been cancelled.

Organizers on Monday confirmed what industry figures had long been waiting for: that China’s biggest and most prestigious film event will not go ahead this year due to the country’s continued Omicron explosions and a strict “COVID zero” policy. from Beijing.

The Shanghai Festival usually takes place in mid-June, but organizers were lucky with the event during the last two months of the city lockdown. Festival officials made a brief statement on Monday afternoon stating that the event has been officially postponed to 2023. This decision marks the third year of abnormal execution for China’s oldest film.

“Due to the impact of the novel corovirus pandemic, the Shanghai International Film Festival Organizing Committee has decided that the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival, originally scheduled for June 2022, will be postponed to next year,” the organizers said.

In 2020, the festival moved the dates from June to August after theaters closed in the first half of the year as China responded to the early stages of the novel coronavirus pandemic. In the summer of 2021, life in China returned to normal as local public health efforts largely eliminated the virus within China’s borders. The festival was usually held during the June window, but strict restrictions on inbound travel ensured the event was almost entirely local, with no international attendees or guests. The situation in Shanghai today reflects the general situation in China: while most international festivals, such as the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival, have learned to function normally in the face of the virus, high vaccination rates and ex-infections, the film Chinese industry is still lagging behind. Aggressive zero-tolerance policy.

Festival organizers added that if health conditions in China improve in the second half of the year, they will consider holding the festival in autumn or early winter. “We would like to express our sincere gratitude and sincere apologies to people from all walks of life who care about and support the Shanghai International Film Festival,” they said. “If conditions allow, we will plan and hold relevant film festivals and themed events in the second half of this year.

Across Shanghai, the two-month COVID lockdown was lifted on June 1, prompting celebrations in the city’s streets and public parks. However, cinemas have remained closed and recent mass testing has already shown a small increase in infection rates in some areas of the city. As of June 3, several neighborhoods were still closed and more than 2 million residents stayed at home.