The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted virtually all domains of the film industry, from the production, through distribution to exhibition of films. As opposed to flourishing VOD platforms, cinemas have been hit particularly hard and with them film festivals, which had to choose between postponing their terms, becoming online or hybrid, or being cancelled altogether. The article focuses on festivals that either take place in Eastern Europe or are focused on the cinema of the region. It first briefly outlines the history of film festivals in Eastern Europe, then it summarizes the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on cinemas and VOD platforms and finally presents three case studies of festivals and their activities during the pandemic. The three festivals streamed at least some films from their programmes and endorsed other activities, such as online industry events, drive-in cinemas and Virtual Reality events. The study concludes that the degree to which film festivals could successfully take place during the pandemic depended more on the type of festival than on its geographical location or geographical focus. Eastern European festivals were not lagging behind the West in this respect and many European festivals were, in fact, cooperating and learning from one another.This article examines the place and role of streaming at film festivals either taking place in Eastern Europe or specialising in Eastern European films. It was prompted by two factors. One is the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected practically all spheres of culture and leisure, shifting from their live consumption to consumption at home, chiefly online. The second is a recognition of the growing importance of streaming in film consumption, which has been accelerated by Covid-19. The analysis focuses on three case studies: Polish Film Festival in Gdynia (PPF Gdynia), Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival in Jihlava (Ji. hlava IDFF), and goEast Festival in Wiesbaden. We chose these festivals to account for their different specialisms and traditions, with the PPF being a festival of Polish films, addressed principally to the Polish audience, the Ji.hlava IDFF being the leading documentary festival in the region, and goEast covering a large variety of films from both Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, addressed to international audience, but especially German one.
