Netflix won’t be eligible to compete for the Palme d’Or this year, as announced by Cannes head Theirry Fremaux. The streaming service was able to enter Bong Joon-ho’s Okja and Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories last year, but that was met by widespread protest from French filmmakers. Fremaux claims they aren’t allowing Netflix to compete this year because it refuses to release its movies in theaters and instead on its service or they opt to do day-and-date release so the film can be seen both online and offline. In order for films to be eligible to compete, Cannes needs to have French theatrical releases. However, Netflix can still show their films at Cannes. These just won’t be eligible for the Palme d’Or.
Source: The Verge