'Mask wearing, social distancing and QR code check-ins may have become normalised practices in our everyday lives, but in the context of an international film festival they remain novel (and at times onerous) additions to the cinema-going ritual. During the 68th Sydney Film Festival last November, these new customs gave me cause to reflect on the evolving cinema experience. In the era of cinema closures, lockdown viewing and adapted festival formats, with future metamorphoses inevitable but as yet unknown, we’ve been forced to confront what we value about cinema-going, about cinemas as public spaces and the experience of being part of an audience.' (Introduction)
