ORLANDO | Enzian Theater announced March 17 that its annual Florida Film Festival, scheduled for April 17-26, would be postponed due to the growing threat of COVID-19, the coronavirus dominating the lives of everyone around the world.
“While this postponement is regretful and hard to swallow considering the thousands of hours that the staff and selection committees have devoted to creating an amazing festival, moving it from April is clearly the safest thing for our audiences and filmmakers, and the right thing to do. Every effort will be made to bring as much of the lineup back as possible for the reschedule later in the year. We’re confident that Central Florida film lovers and visiting filmmakers will be just as excited, and have an incredible time a few months from now,” said Matthew Curtis, Florida Film Festival programming director, in a statement.
Enzian is tentatively aiming to reschedule the festival for August; however, no exact dates have been announced.
The 2020 Florida Film Festival received 2,845 submissions from 101 countries. The festival intended to screen 195 films, representing 41 countries. Of the films selected, 174 have premiere status, including 29 world premieres. This year’s lineup also would have featured 97 films from women directors.
With the cancellation of the festival’s program announcement party, scheduled for March 25, the Florida Film Festival has released a list of all the festival selections on its website.
“We have published the lineup in an effort to recognize the work of these tremendous filmmakers. We hope to bring the majority of these films back for our rescheduled dates, and support these filmmakers and their projects moving forward,” the festival announced.
For more information on the festival, visit FloridaFilmFestival.com.
