The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) suggested press screening protocols after voicing concerns about security requirements “inconsistently applied or applied haphazardly.”
The group, which will announce its 2021 Film Award winners on December 18, expressed gratitude to distributors for making their films available through in-person screenings and on digital or DVD screens. He said the latter were particularly helpful to members with health issues or disabilities during the pandemic who were unable to attend the physical screenings.
However, LAFCA said that since the return of in-person press screenings, it often happened that screening officers had been removed or that testing requests were “often denied without taking into account our individual circumstances.”
The group called on distributors to implement and enforce:
- demand a full Covid vaccination, with a booster if eligible, or a recent negative Covid test (48 hours) for the press or the public attending the screenings;
- require all participants to be masked during in-person screenings; and
- provide screening officers in “a comparable time frame when such policies are not possible, as well as to accommodate high risk journalists and / or people with disabilities”.
LAFCA said the policy should apply “beyond awards season, beyond the scope of the pandemic and beyond the reach of our members.”
