European Film Awards 2021 Live event cancellation – The Hollywood Reporter
The European Film Awards bowed to the inevitable. Amid an alarming rise in COVID-19 infections in Germany, the European Film Academy said on Wednesday that it has canceled the scheduled in-person ceremony for this year’s EFAs.
Like last year’s honorees, the 34th European Film Awards will be an online, pre-produced and live event from Berlin on Saturday, December 11.
The 34th edition of the European Film Awards will be hosted by German actress, executive and writer Annabelle Mandeng from a studio located in the monumental Arena Berlin, where this year’s ceremony is always held. plan takes place. Some presenters of different award categories will join from the studio, others via video link.
“We regret this decision, at this time the most important thing for us is to prevent people from traveling around Europe and increase the risk to everyone – this concerns first and foremost those who are nominees and winners, but also our team in Berlin,” said European Film Academy director Matthijs Wouter Knol announcing the decision on Wednesday. “We are confident that the technology available and the great effort of all participants, combined with our common experience with all forms of online collection, will help highlight the films and special achievements nominated for this year’s European Film Awards. In difficult times like these, we especially hope that the Awards Ceremony will bring together the European film community and reach as many cinema-loving members as possible through streaming. ”
The EFAs have scaled back their ambitions for this year’s event, limiting 2021 attendees to EFA nominees and award recipients. Before the pandemic, EFA’s audience included hundreds of academy members, partners and guests from the European film industry, as well as members of the international media.
But even that plan seems unlikely as infection rates have skyrocketed in Germany over the past few weeks and local authorities have introduced new restrictive measures to prevent a fourth wave of the pandemic. According to official figures from the Robert Koch Institute, the national center for disease control, there were 45,750 new confirmed COVID-19 cases registered in Germany on Monday, November 29, and 388 cases. confirmed death from COVID. There are growing concerns that things could get worse if the new omicron variant of the virus, first detected in southern Africa last week, quickly spreads to Europe. There have been several confirmed omicron cases in Germany, and the European Union has temporarily blocked flights from southern Africa.
This year’s EFA nominations include multiple Oscar contenders, including Paolo Sorrentino’s Italian drama The hand of God, nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay; Julia Ducournau’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane, EFAs for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Performance for stars Agathe Rousselle and Vincent Lindon; and Escape, an animated documentary film by Danish director Jonas Poher Rasmussen, awarded for best documentary, best animated feature, and for the European University Film Award.
You can watch the 34th European Film Awards ceremony online here from 7pm CET, 1pm New York, 10am Pacific on Saturday, December 11, 2021.
