If you thought film festivals were just going to be affected by the pandemic in 2020 then think again. It appears the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival, originally set for February, is the latest film victim of the pandemic.
According to Variety, the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival has decided to radically alter its plans after Germany was hit with a nasty bit of the virus, cases have tripled over the last few weeks there, and that is forcing organizers to completely rethink everything; the shape, the scope and the allure of the event.
The plan is to now have the main competition going all-virtual in March (pushed from the original February date), with a “mini-festival” with on-site world premieres launching (hopefully) sometime in June. An announcement is expected later this week. Rumor has it that organizers even wanted the festival to be pushed further back to April, alas, the German government, which has a major say in the Berlinale, refused to endorse such an unpredictable outcome.
On to Cannes, which now has the task of re-launching the entire industry on its shoulders this summer. Godspeed.
Much like the Ryan Gosling/Bamm-Bamm movie, this is not a story out of The Onion. This is real — and that’s despite some online thinking it’s fake news. It is not.