The Berlin Film Festival is contemplating delayed their upcoming February edition due to the new Omicron COVID-19 variant, according to Variety.
The report states that there have been talks about pushing the Berlinale as far out as June from its current scheduled run of February 10-20, 2022. A delay is widely seen as preferable to mounting a virtual festival, sources said.
Meanwhile, the Sundance Film Festival seems to be monitoring the Omicron situation very closely as well. A spokesperson for the Park City event replied to my email request for comment:
The health safety of our community is paramount. In our planning, one of the most important considerations has been how to safely bring together our community. We designed the 2022 Festival so that attendees can participate in-person in Utah, at our satellite screens and/or online - it was designed as a hybrid model that has flexibility for participation and we feel confident in our model.
Early on we put in place health safety prevention strategies that help with the risks around COVID-19. It has been part of our plan to continue reviewing or adapting our health safety protocols as the Festival nears, as new variants become identified, and as medical recommendations evolve to protect our Festival community in accordance with government guidelines and legal allowances.
With the news of the new Omicron variant we will be closely following the developments and looking at any new recommendations once scientists have more definitive information around it in a few weeks. As part of our daily plan, we will be continuing to monitor the general levels of community transmission and local COVID-19 vaccination coverage in our in-person communities, working to ensure their health safety.
Remember when, back in August, we learned “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” would be playing in only around 350 U.S. theaters, "maybe fewer"? Well, it's fewer. A lot fewer.