The 71st Berlinale Summer Special was held as an outdoor-only event in June 2021. Many of the world’s major film festivals are pivoting to online screenings again for 2022 as Covid-19 cases rise. Photo: Getty Images
The 71st Berlinale Summer Special was held as an outdoor-only event in June 2021. Many of the world’s major film festivals are pivoting to online screenings again for 2022 as Covid-19 cases rise. Photo: Getty Images

Rotterdam and Berlin film festival organisers on the pros and cons of online screenings and events as coronavirus pandemic upends their plans again

  • International film festivals in Rotterdam and Berlin are moving online partly or fully again, but organisers still see value in holding in-person events
  • A wider audience can be reached online, but ‘it’s the value of the informal encounter that’s something one cannot replicate,’ says one festival organiser

The 71st Berlinale Summer Special was held as an outdoor-only event in June 2021. Many of the world’s major film festivals are pivoting to online screenings again for 2022 as Covid-19 cases rise. Photo: Getty Images
The 71st Berlinale Summer Special was held as an outdoor-only event in June 2021. Many of the world’s major film festivals are pivoting to online screenings again for 2022 as Covid-19 cases rise. Photo: Getty Images
READ FULL ARTICLE