Los Angeles, Feb 15 (IANS): French actress Isabelle Huppert, who's the recipient of the Berlinale's Honorary Golden Bear, will not be attending the prestigious film festival as she has tested positive for Covid in Paris.

The organisers of the festival confirmed her absence on Monday night to Variety.

A statement from the Berlinale read, "Unfortunately, today Isabelle Huppert has been tested positive for the coronavirus in Paris and therefore she will not be able to attend the Berlin International Film Festival."

The statement further read, "While informing the festival, she emphasised that she feels very dedicated to the Berlinale and wants to participate in any possible way also to support her latest film 'A Propos de Joan'."

Berlinale artistic director Carlo Chatrian explained that because Huppert "doesn't feel sick", the festival will go ahead with its planned ceremony on Tuesday honouring the "Elle" actor with its lifetime achievement award. Huppert will join in via a live link from Paris. The ceremony will be followed by a screening of 'A Propos de Joan', in the Berlinale Special Gala section.

While the above event may very well unfold, 'Berlinale Homage: In Conversation with Isabelle Huppert' event, organised under the Berlinale Talents program, stands canceled. The Berlin Film Festival 2022 has suffered badly due to the emergence of the new wave of the pandemic and Huppert's absence adds to the list of troubles for the Berlinale.

The festival has earlier suffered a number of unfortunate incidents, including technical difficulties during its opening night film, Francois Ozon's 'Peter von Kant' as well as a break-in at the EFM studio, where key equipment was stolen overnight. The organisers of the fest recently confirmed that the festival has recorded 54 positive COVID cases from 2,700 tests.