The Berlin Film Festival has recorded only eight cases of positive COVID-19 tests so far among film teams and accredited guests, organizers said on Sunday.
Overall, coronavirus testing tied to the festival has identified 54 people with COVID-19 since this year’s edition started on Thursday, but the majority of those were from the general populace. Organizers said festival test centers in select hotels and buses have conducted about 2,700 tests so far, including both industry attendees and film fans. That means that the 54 COVID cases amount to about 2 percent of all tests conducted.
Holding the 72nd Berlinale as an in-person film festival in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic has so far not led to the endless lines, stress and frustration for attendees that some had worried about. Berlin’s strict COVID safety and security measures — online booking, as well as mask and social distancing requirements inside cinemas — is familiar to industry attendees who went to the Cannes or Venice festivals last year and have been similarly easy to maneuver.
The high rate of COVID-19 infections in Germany led Berlin to add an extra layer of protection, requiring all attendees to be fully vaccinated, or recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection, and to also take daily test. Berlin is using a wristband system. Festivalgoers present their negative test to receive a dated wristband to expedite passage through security points.
