Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Building on lessons from digital Cannes and digital AFM, Berlin's online-only European Film Market is running like a well-oiled machine, though participants long for a return to in-person events. "It's slick and efficient, if a bit dull." When, last May, the Cannes Film Market bowed to the inevitable and went online-only, it was a leap in the dark. Could the independent film industry — a business that relies, perhaps more than any other, on trust and personal connections — function in a virtual space? Would buyers continue to bet millions on pre-sale movies if they couldn't see sellers in person, couldn't shake their hands, and look right in their eyes when they make their pitch, but had to base everything on a Zoom call or online pitch? Would buzz and buyer bidding wars — the lifeblood of any film market — even be possible with buyers scattered across time zones, working from their homes and offices, and watching movies via lifestream with all the regular distractions of ordinary life around them?