“It is hard to distinguish whether they were coming for the market or festival because of overlap. For the time being, the situation in Germany is not dangerous at all,” said a festival spokesman.
Industry association Bridging the Dragon said it had cancelled the inaugural edition of a pitching event. “We’ll reshuffle the program and analyze the impact of the pandemic and what to expect next season,” said BTD’s Doris Ho. The association will still proceed next week with its annual one-day seminar in Berlin.
Air travel in Asia has been severely hit by the virus, and flights have been cancelled as a result of a combination of plunging demand and quarantine restrictions. The German Embassy in Beijing was also temporarily closed, making it difficult for some would-be festival attendees to obtain visas in time.
China’s international sales sector is still very small, with many of the most prominent art house titles represented by Hong Kong or European companies. These have enjoyed greater flexibility. However, the greatest damper on Chinese attendance at Berlin this year is more likely the weakening condition of the film industry and the underlying economy. Imports of foreign and independent films have also been trending down regardless of the virus. Recent figures from the Independent Film & Television Alliance show that only 13 U.S. independent films were released in China in 2019.
I warned them, “Do NOT serve corona virus with bratwurst but did they listen” ?