Cannes 2017: Screening of Netflix's 'Okja' stopped due to heckling

The Cannes Film Festival stopped the world premiere screening of the Netflix movie Okja after five minutes on Friday after sustained heckling from the audience.

Okja, starring Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal, is one of the hottest movies at this year's festival but controversial because US video-on-demand company Netflix has refused to screen it in French cinemas.

According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, the screening was halted because of a technical malfunction. The film was misframed on the big screen with the top and the bottom sections of the print cut off. That led to booing from the press representatives and the screening was abruptly suspended.

Netflix, which streams films and television shows to subscribers, has two of the hottest movies in contention for the Palme d'Or - its first time in competition at the festival that France boasts is the greatest in the world.

But, in a country where movies shown in cinemas cannot be streamed for three years, Netflix refused to arrange distribution across France, meaning Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories, with Ben Stiller and Dustin Hoffman, will not be seen on the big screen after their Cannes premiere.

The outcry from French cinemas was such that there were rumours the two movies would be excluded at the last minute.

That has not happened, but the festival has tightened its rules so that in future any in-competition film will have to get a theatre release - effectively barring Netflix after this year.

(With Reuters Inputs)