Martin Scorsese, Radu Jude, Joanna Hogg, Claire Denis, Bertrand Bonello, M. Night Shyamalan, Kristen Stewart, Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Margarethe von Trotta are among the international filmmakers and talents who have signed an open letter in support of Carlo Chatrian whose mandate as artistic director of the Berlinale will come to an end next year. The number of signatories has now exceeded 400 names and keeps growing.
As we reported last week, Chatrian had been expected to stay on beyond 2024, and was surprised to learn that the German body which oversees the festival, Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin (KBB), announced that it would no extend his contract. The org had previously said it would abandon the model of having an executive director and an artistic director and return instead to having a single director, following the next edition.The festival’s executive directorMariëtte Rissenbeekwill also be leaving her post after the next edition.
Chatrian and Rissenbeek were appointed to their respective roles in June 2018 and led their first edition in 2020 after Dieter Kosslick’s tenure as festival director came to an end with the 2019 Berlinale.
Speaking to PvNew last Saturday, Chatrian made it clear the culture ministry decision last week came as a complete surprise. “In March, I had a meeting with [Roth] where we agreed to renew my contract as artistic director. What was still to define was the structure of the leadership. I’ve always said that I was fine with other forms of governance, as long as my freedom in composing the program was preserved. The public announcement, on Aug. 31, made me completely aware that the conditions for me to go on as artistic director after March 2024 were no longer there.”
Here is the Open Letter in support of Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director of Berlinale
We, a diverse group of filmmakers from all over the world, who have deep respect for Berlin International Film Festival as a place for great cinema of all kinds, protest the harmful, unprofessional, and immoral behavior of state minister Claudia Roth in forcing the esteemed Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian to step down despite promises to prolong his contract.
Carlo Chatrian may not be a showman but in his quiet ways, he and his team have chosen an open and artistically rewarding curatorial path, showing new directions in world cinema, challenging stereotypes, and connecting different strands of filmmaking.
Despite the most difficult circumstances all beyond Chatrian’s control—the pandemic, financial restrictions, and a deteriorating festival center around Potsdamer Platz—the past editions under his guiding light were very much alive, full of positive surprises and, despite a smaller number of films shown, very popular, on par with pre-pandemic times.
Also, the films awarded with the main important prizes of the festival in the last four years are confirmed to be important films, as all of them are critically acclaimed and shown all over the world either in commercial circuits or in other important festivals.
Instead of rewarding Carlo Chatrian for his effort, dedication, and patience, the minister has chosen to further increase the difficulties until Carlo Chatrian was forced to announce that he will not continue after the completion of his current contract, as the position of Artistic Director has been dissolved.
Unsurprisingly, no better vision for the festival was presented or discussed, other than the questionable and politically backward demand for a strong hand the Berlinale supposedly needs in the form of an “Intendant”.
We strongly demand to prolong Carlo Chatrian‘s tenure and repair the damage done to this essential film festival.
Signatures:
- Tizza Covi
- Rainer Frimmel
- Nathan Silver
- Anocha Suwichakornpong
- Kent Jones
- Radu Jude
- Zhengfan Yang
- Shengze Zhu
- Christoph Hochhäusler
- Gastón Solnicki
- Lina Rodriguez
- Rolf de Heer
- Andrei Ujică
- Veronika Franz
- Severin Fiala
- Tom Shoval
- Ognjen Glavonić
- Kleber Mendonça Filho
- Cyril Schäublin
- Alex Ross Perry
- Nicolás Pereda
- Antoine Bourges
- Alessandro Comodin
- Simone Rapisarda Casanova
- Roberto Minervini
- Dasha Nekrasova
- Guy Maddin
- Matt Johnson
- Michel Lipkes
- Yousry Nasrallah
- Matías Piñeiro
- Travis Wilkerson
- Sylvain George
- Joao Pedro Rodrigues
- Joao Rui Guerra da Mata
- Alejo Franzetti
- Ben Rivers
- Jerónimo Atehortúa
- Ricardo Pretti
- Gerd Kroske
- Angela Schanelec
- Avi Mograbi
- Beatrice Gibson
- Mauro Herce
- Silvan Zürcher
- Molly Reynolds
- Luiz Pretti
- Ben Russell
- Athina Rachel Tsangari
- Iván Granovsky
- Roger Koza
- Dominga Sotomayor
- Amat Escalante
- Matias Meyer
- Khavn
- Dustin Guy Defa
- Kaya Behkalam
- Andreas Fontana
- Steffen Goldkamp
- Syllas Tzoumerkas
- Martin Scorsese
- Paul Schrader
- Julio Hernández Cordón
- Annemarie Jacir
- Yeo Siew Hua
- Fran Borgia
- Dan Koh
- Maria Speth
- Mareike Wegener
- Miguel Gomes
- Andrea Pallaoro
- Beniamino Barrese
- Laura Citarella
- Camilo Restrepo
- Soda Jerk
- Benjamin Heisenberg
- Ulrich Köhler
- Max Linz
- Axel Koenzen
- Maureen Fazendeiro
- Florian Koerner von Gustorf
- Anton Kaiser
- Ramon Zürcher
- Ted Fendt
- Alexandre Koberidze
- Anna Sofie Hartmann
- Achinette Villamor
- Kirsten Tan
- Reinhild Blaschke
- Verena Paravel
- Cynthia Beatt
- Jonathan Perel
- Joanna Hogg
- Julian Radlmaier
- Nelson Yeo
- Lisa Bierwirth
- Henning Beckhoff
- Ulrich Seidl
- Marie Kreutzer
- Kim Young woo
- Vitali Mansky
- Sebastian Brameshuber
- Athanasios Karanikolas
- Tobias Madison
- Abbas Fahdel
- Kurdwin Ayub
- Corneliu Porumboiu
- Frédéric Jaeger
- Stefano Centini
- Stefan Ivančić
- Éric Baudelaire
- K. Rajagopal
- Michael Krummenacher
- Basma al-Sharif
- Tulapop Saenjaroen
- Jow Zhi Wei
- Chanasorn Chaikittiporn
- Thomas Arslan
- Stefan Butzmühlen
- Jeremy Chua
- Ruth Beckermann
- Timm Kröger
- Raam Reddy
- Aline Fischer
- Olivier Assayas
- Danaya Chulphuthiphong
- Carlo Sironi
- Ash Mayfair
- Kiro Russo
- Siyou Tan
- Lila Avilés
- Helena Girón
- Samuel M. Delgado
- Susana de Sousa Dias
- Azin Feizabadi
- Ivan Ikić
- Gustavo Vinagre
- Phạm Ngọc Lân
- Sofia Bohdanowicz
- Christian Schwochow
- Payal Kapadia
- Mladen Kovačević
- Sorayos Prapapan
- Thong Kay Wee
- Una Gunjak
- Marie Kreutzer
- Katrin Gebbe
- Dirk Lütter
- Claire Denis
- Maxi Haslberger
- Srdan Golubović
- Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
- Asli Özge
- Ivan Salatic
- Rui Poças
- Eduardo Williams
- Jelena Mitrović
- Lai Weijie
- Le Bao
- Carla Simón
- Bas Devos
- Bertrand Bonello
- Marta Popivoda
- Sandra Wollner
- Lisa Weber
- Margarethe von Trotta
- Bettina Brokemper
- Nermin Hamzagić
- Daniel Hoesl
- Gertjan Zuilhof
- Mario Martone
- Viktoria Stolpe
- Patric Chiha
- Dušan Kasalica
- Francesco Montagner
- Meritxell Colell Aparicio
- Mahdi Fleifel
- Ryusuke Hamaguchi
- Jelena Angelovski
- Lukas Valenta Rinner
- Georg Tiller
- Hong Sangsoo
- Jaume Claret Muxart
- Vladimir Perišić
- Michelangelo Frammartino
- Peter Baranowski
- Anders Edström
- Christian Frosch
- Giovanna Giuliani
- Eliza Hittman
- Paloma Schachmann
- Barbara Albert
- Denis Côté
- Rania Attieh & Daniel García
- Álvaro Gago
- Cristina Diz
- FOO Fei Ling
- Bani Khoshnoudi
- Amanda Nell Eu
- Pietro Marcello
- Roderick Warich
- Götz Spielmann
- Lodge Kerrigan
- Kamila Andini
- Benjamin Mirguet
- Aysun Bademsoy
- Natalia Marín
- Nadav Lapid
- Marko Grba Singh
- Leandro Koch
- Juan Soto Taborda
- Ferran Alberich
- Vladimir Durán
- Martin Rejtman
- Hartmut Bitomsky
- M Night Shyamalan
- Milagros Mumenthaler
- Pilar Palomero
- Isaki Lacuesta / Isa Campo
- Ronny Trocker
- Claudio Giovannesi
- Guillaume Brac
- Simón Vélez
- Massimo D’Anolfi
- Martina Parenti
- Giacomo Abbruzzese
- Till Kleinert
- Peter Strickland
- Alina Marazzi
- Nicolas Wackerbarth
- Selman Nacar
- Radu Muntean
- Nicole Vögele
- Eva Trobisch
- Alejo Moguillansky
- Ute Adamczweski
- Oren Moverman
- Tilda Swinton
- Kamal Aljafari
- Marta Mateus
- Nele Wohlatz
- Valentina Maurel
- Gabe Klinger
- Philippe Falardeau
- Balthasar Busmann
- Ico Costa
- Lois Patiño
- Manuel Abramovich
- Giovanni Pompili
- Valentin Merz
- Catarina Vasconcelos
- Nicolas Wadimoff
- Elena López Riera
- Cláudia Varejão
- Ayşe Polat
- Katrin Pors
- Ralitza Petrova
- Jerónimo Rodríguez
- Bernd Schoch
- Jan Bonny
- Valerie Massadian
- Giorgio Diritti
- Rebecca Baron
- Sebastian Mez
- Montse Triola
- Claudia Llosa
- Azazel Jacobs
- Selma Doborac
- Josef Hader
- Dea Kulumbegashvili
- Caroline Kirberg
- Danijel Hočevar
- Apichatpong Weerasethakul
- Nina Menkes
- Francis Vogner dos Reis
- Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi
- Joana Hadjithomas
- Khalil Joreige
- Myriam Sassine
- Myriam El Hajj
- Christelle Younes
- George Peter Barbari
- Rana Eid
- Christian Eid
- Wissam Tanios
- Enzo D’Alò
- Alberto Barbera
- Mounia Akl
- Kirill Krasovski
- Jens Schillmöller
- Judith Fülle
- Vitaly Manski
- Kristen Stewart
- Dylan Meyer
- Javier Fernández Vázquez
- Anna Felicita Bonny
- Cyril Aris
- Sara Silveira
- Frieder Schlaich
- Joaquín del Paso
- Daniel Schmidt
- Philippe Lesage
- Bence Fliegauf
- Ann Oren
- Pauline Curnier Jardin
- Julia De Simone
- Sebastien Pilote
- Ulrike Ottinger
- M. Night Shyamalan
- Adina Pintilie
- Jean-François Lesage
- Tarr Bela
- Tomasz Wolski
- Vimukthi Jayasundara
- Edwin
- Caetano Gotardo
- Maxime Giroux
- Stefano Savona
- Gernot Wieland
- Maren Ade
- Juliana Rojas
- Jean-Pierre Dardenne
- Igor Drljaca
- Filipa
- Sina Ataeian Dena
- Jessica Sarah Rinland
- Federico Veiroj
- Helke Misselwitz
- Qiu Yang
- Emily Atef
- Giovanni Maderna
- João Canijo
- Tommaso Santambrogio
- Lisandro Alonso
- Michael Klier
- Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė
- Jean-Pierre Gorin
- Thomas Moritz Helm
- Jöns Jönsson
- Damiano & Fabio D’Innocenzo
- Chiara Marañón
- Rafi Pitts
- Maryna Vroda
- Michael Koch
- Karim Hussain
- Ana Lungu
- Sergei Loznitsa
- Maike Mia Hôhne
- Dagmar Knöpfel
- Ricardo Alves Jr
- João Salaviza
- Renée Nader Messora
- Leonor Teles
- Clément Cogitore
- John Gianvito
- Irene v. Alberti
- Filipa Reis
- Tan Wei Keong
- Petar Valchanov
- Kristina Grozeva
- Rachel Daisy Ellis
- Miguel Llansó
- Raul Domingues
- Liis Nimik
- Eytan Ipeker
- Elina Psykou
- Stefan Jäger
- Blake Williams
- Serge Bozon
- Andres Veiel
- Hans-Christian Boese
- Kaveh Farnam
- Katrin Renz
- Sophie Kluge
- Hannes Held
- Andreas Dresen
- Lola Arias
- Jodie Mack
- Paulo Roberto de Carvalho
- Bernhard Braunstein
- Courtney Stephens
- Jean-Christophe Simon
- Meng Xie
- Zsuzsanna Kiràly
- Pedro Cabeleira
- Brandon Cronenberg
- Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu
- Alonso Ruizpalacios
- Ivan Marković
- Joao Rosa
- Olimpia Pont Cháfer
- Ho Yuhang
- Tsai Ming-liang
- Silvia Luzi
- Luca Bellino
- Liryc Dela Cruz
- Giorgos Karnavas
- Tran Thi Bich Ngoc
- Fabrice Aragno
- James Gray
- Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
- Paul Poet
- Celluloid Liberation Front
- Sven Taddicken
- Michael Weber
- Anna Marziano
- Matteo Zoppis
- Carlo Cresto-Dina
- alberto fasulo
- Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
- Ann-Kristin Reyels
- Matthias Luthardt
- Gianluca Matarrese
- Mark Cousins
- Stanley Kwan
- Ildiko Enyedi
- Ann Hui
- Joan Chen
- Argyris Papadimitropoulos
- Alessio Rigo de Righi
- Benjamin Pfohl
- Björn Hoffmann
- Bi Gan
- Andrea Štaka
- Ehsan Khoshbakht
- Luis López Carrasco
- Elfi Mikesch
- Thomas Imbach
- Katinka Narjes
- Pedro Borges
- Gianfranco Rosi
- Paolo Taviani
- Joao Matos
- Jan Zabeil
- Eren Aksu
- Claudia Rorarius
- Nicolas Philibert
- Gabriella Manfrè
- Marina Resta
- Stefan Neuberger
- Christoph Friedel
- Claudia Steffen
- Walter Fasano
- Nazareno Nicoletti
- Giorgio Gosetti
- Mitra Farahani
- Marco Dutra
- John Trengove
- Pacho Velez
- Gabriel Mascaro
- Filipa César
- Mikel Gurrea
- Heidi Specogna
- Lixi Frank
- Peter Kerekes
- Vincent Meessen
- Wang Xiaoshuai
- Ning Hao
- Emre Erkmen
- María Alché
- Eugène Green
- Sergej Stanojkovski
- Fern Silva
- Eloy Enciso
- Thorsten Trimpop
- Daniel Zimmermann
- Valeska Grisebach
- Isabelle Stever
- Zahra Vargas
- Miraz Bezar
- Mina Mileva
- Vesela Kazakova
- Nicolas Steiner
- Henrika Kull
