Cannes Holds Out Olive Branch In Row With Netflix

The Cannes film festival said Tuesday that it was still in talks with Netflix despite the platform's dramatic withdrawal of its films last week.

Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2018 ) :The Cannes film festival said Tuesday that it was still in talks with Netflix despite the platform's dramatic withdrawal of its films last week.

Director Thierry Fremaux praised the streaming giant's bosses as "people of taste who love cinema", and said he was ready to heal the rancorous split that saw Netflix reportedly pull five films in the running for the world's top festival next month.

Fremaux riled Netflix by banning movies that are not first released in French cinemas from the competition after cinema owners protested last year at the inclusion of two of its films, "Okja" and "The Meyerowitz Stories".

The Silicon Valley giant complained that it was being unfairly targeted because under French law films cannot be streamed until three years after their cinematic release.

But Fremaux denied that there was a "war" between them despite harsh words from Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos last week, who claimed its films were being "treated disrespectfully".

"Netflix are cinephiles, people of taste who love cinema, and who have have made possible what was never done before," Fremaux told French radio. "Again last night I wrote to my friends at Netflix so that we might find a solution. They find our love for (watching films in) cinemas hard to understand," he added.