Two Chinese films have been included in the 2020 Official Selection Cannes Film Festival unveiled on Wednesday.

One is the Alibaba Pictures-production "Striding into the Wind," directed by Wei Shujun, the other "Septet", directed by seven Hong Kong-based top directors - Tsui Hark, Ann Hui, Sammo Hung, Johnnie To, Patrick Tam, Yuen Woo-Ping, and Ringo Lam.

The 73rd Cannes Film Festival was due to take place May 12- 23, but an announcement was made on March 19 postponing it originally until the beginning of July.

Festival President Pierre Lescure explained: "We had until April 15 to make a decision. But on April 13, French public authorities announced that no major cultural event could take place during the summer. 

Its artistic director Thierry Frémaux said in his own statement: "September being traditionally the time of the Venice and Toronto festivals, it was out of the question that we would hold our own festival at that time. As for organizing Cannes later, in October or November, after all the fall Festivals, that was just not possible either.

"However, cancelation has never been an option. As you probably know, the Festival was canceled only once, in 1939. And only one other edition did not reach completion, which was in 1968. In 2020, if the film festival could not take its usual form, it was necessary for it to take another form. It could not just disappear."

So, this year, whether the films have been selected for the main Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out Of Competition, Midnight Screenings, or Special Screenings, they will be in one single list as the festival's Official Selection.

This comprises 56 films, chosen from the 2,067 entries submitted. It's the first time that the number of films submitted to Cannes has exceeded 2,000, indicating that the crisis and the slowdown in post-production processes have had no impact on the number of films sent for selection. Within that number, there were a record 909 debut films. 

Another feature is the constant geographic expansion of countries of origin. In 2020, the films submitted came from 147 countries, compared to 138 in 2019, an increase of 6.5%.

Thierry Frémaux commented: "Even though movie theatres have been shut for three months - for the first time since the invention of film screening by the Lumière Brothers on Dec. 28, 1895 - this year's selection reflects the fact that cinema is more alive than ever. It remains unique, irreplaceable,". 

He pointed out that some films had not made the selection process because their authors and producers chose to postpone their release to winter or spring 2021 and thus would be eligible for film festivals next year, including Cannes. He revealed that many other festivals around the world have expressed the desire to welcome the Cannes 2020 selection films. 

"The Cannes Film Festival will soon unveil how it will operate next Fall. Traditionally, successive festivals such as Locarno, Telluride, Toronto, Deauville, San Sebastian, Pusan, Angoulême (for French cinema), New York, Rome, Rio, Tokyo, Mumba? or Mar del Plata and even Sundance have invited the films of the Official Selection," he stressed.

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