Cannes Apologizes For ‘Okja’ Screening Technical Glitches

UPDATED: Technical problems marred Netflix’s press screening for “Okja” on Friday morning at the Cannes Film Festival, according to audience members.

The film was projected for more than six minutes in the wrong aspect ratio while critics booed and stomped their feet until it was fixed. The negative reaction came after people burst into applause when the Netflix logo was shown. The attitude quickly switched to hissing when the audience realized the film was being shown in the wrong dimensions. The screening later resumed without any issues.

Cannes assumed blame for the problems.

“This incident is completely due to the technical staff of the festival who deeply apologize to the director and his team, to the producers as well as to the audience,” the festival said in a statement.

The South Korean-American action-adventure film is directed by Bong Joon-ho (“Snowpiercer”) and has its red carpet premiere in the evening. It stars Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, and Lily Collins and centers on a young girl trying to prevent a rapacious company from kidnapping her friend, a mystical beast.

This is the first time that Netflix has had films at the Cannes Film Festival. It will also debut “The Meyerowitz Stories” from Noah Baumbach on Sunday.

This isn’t the first time that the film showed in the same ultra-wide dimension as “Wonderstruck,” which cut off the eyes and tops of heads of the characters.

It wasn’t the only issue at this year’s press screening. The white badge security line was glacial, since the festival only had one person checking everyone’s bags. Press have been told to allow for 30 minutes to get through the line at the early morning screening.

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