Row over Netflix films casts shadow over Cannes Film Festival

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/row-over-netflix-films-casts-shadow-over-cannes-film-festival-35728042.html

Summary

With the 70th Cannes Film Festival having opened yesterday under sunny Cote D'Azur skies the stars are coming out in their thousands. This year's festival features a line up widely considered to be well stocked with heavyweight filmmakers, including Sofia Coppola and Lynne Ramsay. However, a storm is brewing over Netflix's place at the world's most prestigious film festival as it continued to steal the spotlight. For the first time, Cannes selected two Netflix releases - Bong Joon-ho's 'Okja' and Noah Baumbach's 'The Meyerowitz Stories' - for its Palme d'Or competition. Though, French theaters which have strict rules regarding streaming service films, rebelled at the thought of a movie that will not play on the big screen winning the competition.The festival officials rebelled and next year will not be accepting streaming - only films.

Key Statistics

Netflix will debut the $90m fantasy thriller 'Bright' in which Smith stars later this year.

My Opinion

I can understand why allowing streaming services to have a spotlight at such a prestigious film festival is being rebelled against by many. However, we all know that with technological advancements going the way they are streaming services are the way forward and I think that eventually festival's like Cannes Film are going to have to find a way to adapt to the changes. Maybe there could be a separate branch off the main festival that celebrates films released on streaming services.