Berlinale: Tricia Tuttle, an American to turn Berlin around

The American Tricia Tuttle will take over the direction from April 2024 of the Berlinale, the Berlin international film festival, one of the main cinematographic events which is preparing to scale back for financial reasons, announced Tuesday the German Minister of Culture. Tricia Tuttle, 53, is a seasoned film industry expert. She has notably worked for the British film academy Bafta and directed the London Film Festival (BFI). She is currently Head of the Feature Filmmaking Department at the National Film and Television School (NFTS) near London.

“Tricia Tuttle brings 25 years of experience in film and film festivals. Under his leadership, the BFI has not only seen its audience increase, but has also gained in profile and importance internationally,” Minister of Culture Claudia Roth emphasized at a press conference. Tricia Tuttle will take over from Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, who have run the festival as a duo since 2020. The latter will again organize the next edition in February 2024 (from 15 to 25), the jury of which will be chaired by the Mexican-Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o.

After Mariette Rissenbeek's announcement of her retirement, the minister declared that she wanted to return to a single direction, and de facto pushed the artistic director Carlo Chatrian, who enjoys a good reputation among directors, to throw out the sponge. The affair had caused some commotion. In an open letter, more than 200 directors, including Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Claire Denis and Ryusuke Hamaguchi - asked Claudia Roth to extend Carlo Chatrian's contract, in vain.

Tricia Tuttle said she was looking forward to soon being “part of the team.” The Berlinale is “a festival that shows that cinema is an extremely vibrant, often magical art form that can change the way we see the world and the way we understand each other,” she said. .

His arrival should restore shine to a festival in decline. The 2024 edition will see a reduction in the number of films presented to around 200, compared to 287 in 2023, due to increased costs. “The fact that Ms. Tuttle has a good network in the American film industry could help her attract a little more Hollywood glamor to Berlin again - which (the festival, editor's note) could really use after years of bad times. skinny,” noted the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung.