CANCELLATION CROSSING EUROPE 2020

The developments surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have had a massive impact on the planning and carrying out of the coming edition of CROSSING EUROPE. With a heavy heart we have to cancel the seventeenth edition of CROSSING EUROPE Film Festival Linz (from 21 to 26 April 2020). 

Dear festival audience, 
dear filmmakers, 
dear festival guests, 
dear supporters, events partners, and sponsors,

On the recommendation of the authorities and after having consulted with our funders and event partners CROSSING EUROPE is regretfully forced to cancel the seventeenth festival edition.

It is currently simply not possible on an organizational level, nor is it responsible to prepare and carry out a film festival that complies to the currently necessary security statutes yet still keeps up with the same levels of quality in the area of event organization we have come to expect. Due to this reason a cancellation is unavoidable. CROSSING EUROPE 2020 will not take place. Moving the festival to another date is impossible due to legal issues, temporary contracts, as well as financial and personnel resources.

The festival team is currently looking at possibilities to make parts of the planned festival program accessible to the festival audiences in other ways. CROSSING EUROPE intends to offer an opportunity to the filmmakers and the works that were selected for the festival to be shown in another manner – even if this may be in a slimmed down fashion – either as screenings of selected programs over the coming months, or through a VoD platform. We would ask you for patience though, as soon as there are concrete plans we will communicate these on our festival website as well as through our social media channels. Additionally to those efforts we will publish our festival catalog on 8 April, as well as a festival newspaper in digital form, in order to document the planned festival program.

All those who have already purchased festival passes for this year’s edition can either use them for the eighteenth edition of CROSSING EUROPE next year, be reimbursed for the tickets, or forgo that and thereby donate to support CROSSING EUROPE. Affected persons can choose a variety HERE (in German only). CrossingMovie-Cards are valid for next year’s festival edition. 

For further information regarding the developments surrounding the cancellation of CROSSING EUROPE 2020, the festival team will get in contact with you over the coming days and weeks. We will do our best to react to inquiries as quickly as possible. We would ask for your patience though, as this can take some time. You can find the first concise answers on our respective FAQ page.

We strongly regret having to cancel CROSSING EUROPE 2020, seeing as the entire team has put in so much energy and passion over the past months, in order to put together this year’s program and the entire festival organization.

To all those filmmakers, partners, funders and sponsors who have supported us on various levels such an announcement is bitter, and we are truly sorry that we are not able to carry out all of our planned activities.

Thank you very much for your understanding, and we hope that this exceptional situation will soon find an end.

Stay safe!

Christine Dollhofer and the CROSSING EUROPE festival team