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How often have we said that to ourselves with a pleasant shudder: We sat in the Berlinale Palast this February, close together, film on film, and had no idea.
Or didn't want any.
Five days before the festival began, France reported the first Covid death, on the third day of the festival Italy sealed off cities in the north, and North Rhine-Westphalia reported the first infections after a festival week.
The Berlinale went through.
It won't come to that next year.
The largest German cultural event is canceled - largely.
For a long time one could hope that the goblet would pass the festival, that they could have been lucky twice, once shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic and the next time in the ebbing wave.
It wasn't meant to be, thanks to the hesitant politics.
What we are now getting is a new variant of cultural food substitute, as it has already been given to us online at many festivals, without being able to even begin to satisfy our hunger.
The worst case did not happen, thank God.
Now one could argue that the cancellation itself is the worst case scenario.
But an even worse could be thought: That we would spend the entire festival at home, watching 20 competition films on our home screen and maybe 20 panorama films and who knows which side series.
Perhaps, as an experiment, one should actually have done it once, if only to feel the phantom pain, the absence of everything that makes a real festival attractive - everything except the films, albeit in a castrated, compressed form.
Perhaps it would have been a healing shock for all those who have now made themselves too comfortable in front of their streaming portals.
This also includes film critics.
Another one of the sure Berlinale candidates: the Kästner film adaptation of “Fabian”.
Here the shooting in Görlitz with (from left) director Dominik Graf, Saskia Rosendahl and Tom Schillin ... g
Source: picture alliance / Geisler-Fotopress
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It won't come to that.
The Berlinale takes a different, individual, interesting path.
She has not yet commented, we only have a report from the industry journal "Variety" and our own research.
After that, there will also be a competition at the (almost canceled) 71st Berlinale - the field of applicants will be announced by the end of January - and there will be silver bears and a golden bear.
There is a prominent jury, and they should view all the films (online, unfortunately) by the end of February and choose the winners.
Now, even for the biggest festivals, there is an obligation these days to remain visible, even if they are not actually taking place.
It is a duty to their fans
and
their donors.
It was the squaring of the circle that Cannes tried in May, also with the announcement of the competitive films and various later screenings at other festivals, provided with the label "Selection Officielle".
A makeshift concept born out of necessity, not particularly effective, but nothing more was possible.
The Berlinale goes a few steps further.
As I said, it should not officially fail at all, there will be a Golden Bear in the winners' lists for 2021.
There will also be a kind of mini-Berlinale in summer, probably at the beginning of June, when viewers can actually see part of the competition program at Potsdamer Platz.
The question is, of course, which films will be available for the competition, because the advantage of going to Berlin in the bad February weather - the big media coverage - is no longer available this time.
Paradoxically, the Berlinale could even fall into the lap of some films that it would otherwise have missed: American Oscar candidates whose stars are too lazy to travel.
The iron Berlinale junction - a film is only invited if its stars can be seen on the red carpet - will be canceled this year without replacement.
Bear waiting
Source: picture alliance / AA
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Much had been speculated about a cancellation or postponement;
at least since Berlin's Senator for Culture Lederer was pessimistic about the chances of a festival.
Dodging into March was thought possible, even into April.
But that was a bill without the course of the pandemic, without the federal government, which would have had to guarantee funding at a later date (and in the worst case write the money to the wind) - and above all without the European Film Market.
Acting in the market, because of which many producers come to Berlin in the first place (and sometimes bring an attractive film with a star) is the often overlooked stepchild of the festival, but it is of existential importance.
The film dealers only have one big point of contact in the first quarter, and that is Berlin;
they want to keep it, even if only as an online event.
Postponing the festival (and market) to April would have brought Berlin dangerously close to Cannes - although the French are also considering postponing it to June or July.
So much uncertainty is a nuisance. But let's not overlook the positive. In a sense, we are seeing a repeat of 1977/78 in 2021/22, only the other way around. At that time, the new director Wolf Donner moved the festival from summer to winter in order to avoid the strong competition from Cannes (spring) and Venice (summer). Since then, film enthusiasts have suffered the Berlin winter (Donner bobble hats distributed only in the first winter edition) and have often wished the old date back. They are getting it now, if only for an exceptional year.