Last week, Toronto's Hot Docs pulled the plug on its 2020 festival over health and safety concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic. Today (March 18), "with great consideration and heavy hearts", Vancouver's DOXA Documentary Film Festival did the same. The festival was set to run from May 7-17.

A media release reads:

Due to the uncertain and ever-evolving global COVID-19 crisis, the DOXA team has been conferring urgently to ensure that they are doing everything they can to mitigate the virus’ spread. The health and safety of patrons, staff, volunteers, and the wider community is their primary concern at this time.

DOXA director of programming Selina Crammond adds:

“We remain extremely grateful for the support of our audience, our partners and the documentary community at large as we face difficult decisions required by these exceptional circumstances. DOXA is now, more than ever, committed to supporting a better understanding of the complexity of our times through engaging the public in documentary media as an art form.”