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In the eight-plus months since the first coronavirus cases were confirmed in Europe, the continent’s film industry has been in the midst of what has often felt like an unprecedented crisis. But for many arthouse distributors, the pandemic has simply accelerated changes that were already sweeping through the cinema business.

“The problems haven’t really changed,” said Huub Roelvink, founder and managing director of Dutch distributor Cherry Pickers, at Rome’s Mia market on Saturday. “They’ve just become more urgent.”

Roelvink was speaking alongside a panel of leading European executives as they discussed how arthouse distributors across the continent are responding to a time of widespread uncertainty.

Also appearing were Margherita Chiti, general manager and head of acquisitions and sales at Italy’s Teodora Film; Oscar Eriksson, head of acquisitions at Sweden’s Folkets Bio; and Ira Von Gienanth, CEO and acquisition manager for Germany’s ProKino. The panel,...