Berlin International Film Festival pushed to 2021 due to COVID, to be split into 2 events

The Berlin Film Festival has called off its physical event that was scheduled for February 2021 due to the surge in the number of COVID cases in Germany. According to Variety, the festival has been pushed ahead and will now take place virtually in the first week of March followed by the physical event in June. The European Film Market will run in a virtual format from March 1 to 5.

Berlin Film Festival to be split into two events

The international media outlet quoted artistic director Carlo Chatrian saying that at these uncertain times, people need to react accordingly and therefore the organizers have decided to split the event into two parts to complete their mission. He further said that in March the film industry will gather online and will be able to support and give light to the selection, as a new beginning, 71 years after the first edition.

The next year, the audiences will be able to celebrate the filmmakers and their team, in theaters which seems quite impossible seeing the current situation. Continuing, he said that the audience will have the opportunity to enjoy the different sections and identities of the festival, to watch the films of the international competition, and celebrate the winners in a joyful atmosphere, carrying the trophies in their hands.

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The executive director of Berlinale Mariette Rissenbeek, on the other hand, said that while everybody has a great desire to meet for the festival in person, the current situation of the COVID pandemic does not allow a physical festival. Sharing his views on the same, Rissenbeek said that it is important to offer the film industry a market within the first quarter of the year. With the change in the festival format in 2021, the organizers will have the chance to protect the health of all guests and to support the restart of the cinema industry. The Berlinale had long been looking for having a physical event in April but the German government isn't certain of whether the situation of COVID is going to get better in the country. 

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