A fourth wave of Covid is starting to sweep across Europe’s events circuit. The European Film Awards have canceled their in-person edition, which was due to take place in Berlin on December 11, and uncertainty is growing around winter festivals.
The European Film Awards, where a record five animated features are nominated this year, will instead take place online, with both live and pre-recorded components. The decision comes as Germany grapples with rising Covid cases, which has led the federal government to ban the unvaccinated from non-essential shops and events.
Germany is one of the countries to have reported cases of the new Omicron variant, about which much is still not known. The variant, which has been designated as “of concern” by the World Health Organization, has now been detected in many countries, including the U.S.