One of the biggest stories over the weekend was the booing of Netflix at the Cannes film festival. During the premiere of a film that I think looks like it’s going to be excellent, Okja, fans booed it from the get go. Reports from the festival say the first 10 minutes of the film were also played in the wrong aspect ratio, leading to more booing. The screening was started again from the beginning with the correct ratio, and Netflix’s title card was booed again – louder, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Tatiana Siegel. Amazon’s title card was also reportedly booed, by a small group at an early morning press screening of Todd Haynes’ Wonderstruck. But the booing wasn’t really a symptom of technical problems. According to The Verge
The incident follows weeks of snide back-and-forth between Netflix, the Cannes Film Festival, and the National Federation of French Cinemas, over the question of whether releasing movies primarily on streaming platforms somehow delegitimizes their standing as cinematic works.
At a press conference following the screening, Tilda Swinton was asked about the festival’s likely reluctance to award Okja the Palme d’Or, and responded: “[T]he truth is we didn’t come here for prizes. We came here to show this film to the Cannes Film Festival and to people who have gathered here from all over the world… I think it’s an enormous and interesting conversation that is beginning, but the truth is if you want to know what I really think? I think, as in many matters, there is room for everybody.”
I’ve got threes words for all of this: Franchises, sequels, and reboots. If there’s one thing that Netflix is not short on it’s original work. How could you claim their shows and movies aren’t cinematic works? In the same breath are you admitting that the countless reboots, sequels and profit machine franchises are cinematic works? Why? Because they’re made for big screen? To me a cinematic work is loosely really anything that’s considered a movie, that’s filmed and that’s put on a screen. Whether it’s streamed or not should make zero difference. I agree with Swinton and in fact praise companies like Netflix and Amazon for at least bringing new programs and films to the table.
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