Many of the attributes that we associate with feature films are a product of the limitations of an antiquated theatrical exhibition format. Among other qualities, feature films have an approximate running time of 2 hours not because it is the best length to tell every story, but because it a) accommodates the need for theaters to run a uniform exhibition schedule and b) accommodates a uniform ticket pricing structure.

As more elastic exhibition formats (like streaming or episodic premium cable) grow in prestige and legitimacy, creators will feel less inclined to shoehorn (or expand) their stories into the straightjacket of the traditional theatrical format. THAT is the real threat to the future of the two hour movie we think of as “cinema”.

Cannes should be encouraging any and all players who celebrate that legacy narrative format regardless of where those 2 hour, three act structure stories are exhibited.

Because without a robust creative interest in that challenging, restrictive, antiquated narrative format, there won’t be enough movies to play in all those theaters Cannes seems so worried about.