Netflix Film ‘Okja’ Plagued by Technical Difficulties at Cannes Film Festival

Netflix film Okja was plagued by technical difficulties during its screening at the Cannes Film Festival, shortly after the festival announced a ban on all streaming films for next year’s entries.

Deadline Hollywood reports that Netflix’s film Okja was plagued with technical glitches during its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. At the press screening of the film, there was an issue with the film’s aspect ratio which showed part of the film on the theater’s ceiling, which reportedly led to boos and jeers from the crowd. The Cannes Film Festival has taken full responsibility for the glitch in a statement:

A technical incident disrupted the beginning of the screening of Bong Joon ho’s film, Okja, which was shown this morning at a press screening at the Lumière Auditorium. The session was interrupted for a few minutes but was then able to carry on as normal.

This incident was entirely the responsibility of the Festival’s technical service, which offers its apologies to the director, his teams, the producers and the audience at the showing.

This glitch comes shortly after the Cannes Film Festival’s decision to ban all films that are solely streamed via the internet from entering the festival in the future. The entries of both Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories, both distributed by Netflix, were called into question this year but ultimately were allowed to take part in the festival. The festival introduced a new ruling for future years:

Any film that wishes to compete in Competition at Cannes will have to commit itself to being distributed in French movie theaters. This new measure will apply from the 2018 edition of the Festival International du Film de Cannes onwards.

Ultimately, Okja was allowed to be screened but so far has not gotten off to a great start. Those that saw the film did, however, have high praise for it:

https://twitter.com/kylebuchanan/status/865491073837039616

My heart bleeds for #Okja. Great film, perfect creature feature, funny, honest /w attitude. Exactly what cinema needs…oh wait. #Cannes17

— Beatrice Behn (@DansLeCinema) May 19, 2017