Most film festivals in this year of the pandemic — from Cannes to the Morelia Film Festival — have had to adapt and adopt a new hybrid format, partly online and partly in person.

But the Los Cabos Film Festival is distinguishing itself by committing to a fully digital format and by offering its content to all at no charge.

Festival directors Maru Garzón and Alejandra Paulín recently told El Universal newspaper that taking the event fully online will be quite a feat, but it is not the first daunting challenge the festival has successfully weathered in its previous seven years: it’s dealt with budget cuts, changes in administration and even hurricanes.

The pair say they consider this year to be nothing more than another challenge that will teach them to adapt and evolve.

“Making a digital festival certainly implies challenges,” Paulin said. “We had to assess ourselves, learn about digital platforms. It has been about learning new things [this year] to make this a different festival. The cost is different from an in-person version. We’re also working with a very reduced budget this year.”

Despite this, Garzón chooses to see the advantages of the online format. The events and the films they’ll be presenting can have a bigger impact, she said.

“To do it this way gives us the opportunity to democratize the festival, because it’s free and because of the reach that the digital format will give us to everyone who wants to experience it.”

The festival begins November 11.

Source: El Universal (sp), Sensacine (sp)