Kaludjercic has instead spent the last few weeks poring over contingency plans at home, as ever-tightening measures to combat the Omicron variant of the coronavirus forced her and her team to pivot this year’s in-person festival online. Again.

“It looked like we were on a very realistic path to have a physical edition, so we went with the programming of more than 300 titles,” says Kaludjercic. “It was only about eight weeks ago that it became clear that this may not be possible at all.”

And a turbulent eight weeks they were, too.

“We have to rethink everything again at the finishing line,” she says, “which is really quite intense and to find a way of being there for the filmmakers rather than leave them in a rut.”

Eventually, Kaludjercic’s team decided to shelve the bulk of the programme, with a small selection of films being made available to Dutch audiences. Titles in the festival’s Tiger Competition – which rewards up-and-coming international film talent – will be accessible by accredited press through online platform Festivalscope.

Chatrian and the Berlinale’s executive director, Mariette Rissenbeek, eventually reached a consensus with officials – the festival will be held physically from February 10, but with a curtailed run of a week instead of the original 10 days, and cinemas will operate at half-capacity.

All parties and receptions are cancelled, and the European Film Market, the festival’s industry-oriented event which draws thousands of visitors, will again be held online.

“It’s been clear since the beginning that the reason of being for the Berlinale is to do something with the public,” says Chatrian. “Maybe other festivals have a different relationship with the audience, but Berlin is so strictly connected with theatres and people in the city that we thought an online event wouldn’t be the right choice.”

Back in the autumn of 2021, with infections seemingly on the decline, international film festival organisers felt confident in planning full-fledged programmes for 2022. For the Rotterdam and Berlin festivals, their plans stemmed from the well-received in-person screenings that were held in the summer.

The latest Omicron-fuelled waves have put paid to all the optimism, but last year’s experience of hosting online screenings has stood organisers in good stead in facing the inevitable.

Kaludjercic says the Rotterdam festival worked with several other Dutch festivals to develop a platform for screenings. She has noticed how online screenings can generate more attention from the press than in-person ones.

“The coverage and exposure was much wider than one would have when everyone needs to be [there],” she says, which allowed the films screened last year to make an impact at other international film festivals.

“We noticed the engagement from the national audience was much more widespread, more than it would be if people would need to be in Rotterdam or to visit theatres. So, in that regard, we took note of quite interesting lessons.”

Meanwhile, Chatrian says his team have expanded on making online conversations with filmmakers, unable to make it to the festival, possible.

“Through technology, we can reach out to a wider audience,” he said. “Even if we are not able to show [distant audiences] the films, there is also other content we can show to entice the appetite of viewers around the world.”

It’s something the biennial Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in Japan also embraced after it was forced to move its 2021 edition online in October.

“We started discussing what an online edition would look like in December 2020, 10 months before the festival [was supposed to take place] in 2021,” says Asako Fujioka, a member of the Yamagata festival board.

The online screenings, which were only available in Japan, were warmly received. “The audience responded well, especially those who live far from Yamagata and those who for various reasons were unable to travel,” she says.

“Most of our outreach work so far has been within Japan, such as non-profit screenings and working with children, but this initiative allowed us to approach a growing group of cinephiles – and maybe fans of Japanese cinema around the world,” says Fujioka.

What all of the organisers agree on is the importance of film festivals as a physical, tangible event.

“Yes, it could be more dangerous to go to a theatre, or to go out on the streets [during the pandemic],” says Chatrian. “But if we don’t, then our society is at risk, and I think the polarisation of society nowadays is also the reflection of that – how we are living in small bubbles and communities run by the same ideas.

“When you go to a theatre, especially in a festival, you have people with different backgrounds with different attitudes towards films. Sometimes it can be annoying, but it’s an exercise in being a citizen.”

Kaludjercic says those who watch festival titles online in the comfort of their own homes might lose out on the festivals themselves, which can serve as a unique constellation of ideas and values.

“It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to replicate in the online environment an understanding of the bigger picture of what we are doing as a film festival,” she says, referring to the many thematic strands the Rotterdam festival offers beyond its main competition and the mainstream-oriented gala screenings.

Then there are the chance encounters with films or people at festivals who might inspire both filmmakers and audiences in thinking about the world differently.

This might range from industry events – such as CineMart (which offers filmmakers the opportunity to launch their ideas and make connections in the international film industry) and the Rotterdam Lab training workshop – to talks where directors and viewers can exchange ideas.

“It’s the value of the informal encounter that’s something one cannot replicate online,” Kaludjercic adds, “and this is something one shouldn’t underestimate, how valuable it is.”