After an online-only edition in 2021, this year’s Berlin International Film Festival kicked off on February 10 and, for the first time since 1992, I chose not to attend. The first weeks of the year had seen Omicron case numbers surging wildly across Europe; exactly a month before the event began, Germany hit a daily record of 80,000 new cases. To insist on staging it as an in-person event seemed to me both reckless and tone-deaf – and to then refuse any provisions for online screenings, on top of that, just felt arrogant.
After an online-only edition in 2021, this year’s Berlin International Film Festival kicked off on February 10 and, for the first time since 1992, I chose not to attend. The first weeks of the year had seen Omicron case numbers surging wildly across Europe; exactly a month before the event began, Germany hit a daily record of 80,000 new cases. To insist on staging it as an in-person event seemed to me both reckless and tone-deaf – and to then refuse any provisions for online screenings, on top of that, just felt arrogant.
At an unusually quiet, Covid-strict festival, it was a good year for the French, and female directors – and we got to see Jean-Luc Godard do his ironing
Beyond the Golden Bear that went to the Catalan entry "Alcarras," here are the Silver Bear-winning films of the Berlin International Film Festival's main competition.
Beyond the Golden Bear that went to the Catalan entry "Alcarras," here are the Silver Bear-winning films of the Berlin International Film Festival's main competition.