Berlin Film Festival will return to in-person edition in 2022 after going virtual for a year due to COVID-19

The Berlin Film Festival will return to being an in-person event with its 2022 edition, the organisers announced on Thursday.

In a statement, posted on the official website of the famed film gala, the organisers said the 72nd edition of the festival will be held from 10 to 20 February, 2022.

The festival, also known as Berlinale, was one of the last major international festivals to be held in person before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

This year, the festival was held in an online-only format.

The organisers also revealed the dates for the parallel events of the festival — the European Film Market from 10 to 17 February; the Berlinale Co-Production Market from 12 to 16 February; and Berlinale Talents 12 to 17 February. Furthermore, the World Cinema Fund will focus on on-site offerings and will also provide online formats.

“We’re very pleased to bring the festival back to the big screen in February: with a multifaceted programme, the red carpet, stars, and the amazing Berlinale audiences,” said festival directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian.  “The need for a physical festival experience and face-to-face encounters is strongly evident in both the industry and the public. The experiences of the last months have shown that on-location events can take place safely and successfully, and how important they are for dialogue and exchange,” they added.

The organisers also said the 2022 festival programming would be “roughly similar” to Berlinale’’s pre-COVID-19 edition in 2020.

Short films, which were struck from the Generation sidebar for the festival this year, will return to the section in 2022.