The growing coronavirus crisis has claimed another film festival
Organizers of the inaugural Red Sea Film Festival, due to launch in Saudi Arabia's coastal city of Jeddah on March 12, have now announced that the event is being postponed due to health fears. The news comes just as the Kingdom confirmed its first cases of the disease having already made the unprecedented move of banning religious visitors for the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca later in the year.
"To all cineastes, it's with feelings of deep sadness that we have had to take this tough decision," the festival posted on its official Twitter account. "The spread of coronavirus is a battle we all must face around the globe, and it's with no hesitation that we are respecting the measures needed to meet the current health emergency.
Underlining its international outreach, the festival named Oliver Stone as head of its international jury, while confirming that Spike Lee would be attending to hold a masterclass. The event now joins Qatar's Qumra Film Festival and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, which both recently revealed that they would be postponed due to the coronavirus. Pressure has been mounting on SXSW to shift it dates, while many in the industry have been looking ahead to Cannes in May as a potential victim.
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