How cinema has changed during the pandemic

When a large part of the world went under lockdown last March, some industries found themselves in the position of having to reinvent themselves, change gear so as not to disappear under the blows of a pandemic that today, as at the time, does not seem to have an end. Fashion moved right away looking for guidelines that could change a sector that has always been made up of events, travels and large productions, trying to slow down the pace of an overly active world and focusing on digital. In the same way, even the cinema has had to review its rules, adapting with difficulty to a new world that has intermittently taken away the place of excellence of cinema, the theatre. 

Just like fashion, digital has had a leading role right from the start, giving giants such as Netflix and Prime Video the opportunity to capitalize on a dominant position consolidated over the years and others to create an alternative distribution chain. This is the case of Disney, which will distribute some titles directly on Disney+, and of Warner Bros, which has instead decided to distribute the titles in theatres and in streaming on HBO Max for the whole of 2021. If on the one hand, the abandonment of cinemas means the probable end of many small and medium-sized realities such as independent chains and arthouse cinemas, on the other hand, the rise of digital and on-demand can become a solution to the overcrowding of titles that has affected cinema in recent years. Just like fashion, cinema also lives in the need to streamline an overly busy schedule, but above all to come to terms with reality and abandon a no longer realistic model. 

In this sense, Fashion Weeks have shown how it is possible to rethink a key event in the life of a sector in a different way. If Paris, London, New York and all the other fashion capitals have chosen a totally digital formula, in Milan only two brands have chosen to keep the physical show, while the others have preferred the digital one. Changes that we don't know if will remain, but which have certainly given proof of an industry ready to evolve, drawing a clear line with those who have instead chosen to do the opposite. If the Fashion Weeks have shown unity of purpose, the Film Festivals have done the exact opposite, often remaining entrenched in their bubble of traditions and ideals. Among the most important ones, only Turin and Toronto chose the digital formula, while Rome and Venice wanted to continue with an event in presence, reducing the number of accredited. Different story for Cannes, where the president Thierry Frémaux preferred to postpone the 73rd edition of the Festival to June this year. 

With the Oscars moved from February to April, in Hollywood, which in the meantime has resumed productions between Europe and an Australia without infections, something seems to have changed. If the pandemic has almost eliminated the proceeds of 2020, on the other hand, it has put an entire industry to the test forcing it to come to terms with reality in a leap into the future as premature when necessary. The theatre will remain the bulwark of the cinematic experience, but realities such as day-and-date releases are the future of an industry that needs, more than anything else, to show movies. The last word is up to us, the public, having to choose whether we are really ready to see the new 007 on TV as if it were the final episode of The Queen's Gambit.