The European Film Market (EFM), the industry side of the Berlin Film Festival, has reported that 600 exhibitors from 62 countries participated in this year's virtual edition, up from 504 last year.

There were a total of 1,300 market screenings, including 600 premieres, of 827 films. The number of screenings was down from 1,452 last year. This year, however, attendees will be able to see films as catch-up screenings throughout the next few weeks.

Companies from Costa Rica, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Uruguay were among the exhibitors for the first time.

The EFM had yet another difficult year, with the Omicron wave forcing the cancellation of its planned in-person event. Prior to the rapid spread of new instances, which continued to peak during the event, EFM chief Dennis Ruh told Deadline in January that his team was "quite optimistic" about conducting a physical edition in 2022.

Despite this, some notable deals were made throughout the market, including Sony's record-breaking $60 million deal for Tom Hanks' comedy A Man Called Otto.

“The EFM has again created clear, vital momentum for the film and content trade at its traditional date at the beginning of the film year,” said EFM director Ruh. “In the wake of the already noticeable easing and lifting of restrictive measures in Europe and other parts of the world, the incentive to acquire new films and content is being felt more strongly once again, even if rights trading still had to take place largely in virtual space this year. We look forward to meeting our market participants in person in Berlin next year.”