The head of the Berlinale movie competition, Tuttle, will stay in workplace in the interim. This was introduced by a spokesman for Minister of State for Culture Weimer. The competition director was criticized for an incident on the awards ceremony.
According to the federal authorities, no determination was made about the way forward for director Tricia Tuttle at a disaster assembly for the Berlinale.
“This morning a supervisory board meeting of KBB GmbH took place in the Chancellery. The topic was the Berlinale,” stated a spokesman for Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer. “Discussions about the organization of the Berlinale will continue in the coming days between the director, Tricia Tuttle, and the supervisory board.”
The AFP information company, citing circles of contributors, stated that the talks underneath Weimer’s management had been “constructive and open.” “In addition to the organization of the festival, the anti-Israel statements at the awards ceremony on Sunday were also discussed at the supervisory board meeting,” it says.
Debates on coping with the Middle East battle
Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer had beforehand referred to as a rare supervisory board assembly on the longer term course of the Berlinale within the Chancellery. It’s about the way forward for the Berlin Film Festival and “the events of the Berlinale that ended at the weekend,” Weimer was quoted as saying by the Bundestag’s Culture Committee.
During the competition there have been a number of debates about learn how to take care of the Middle East battle. One incident was the speech by the Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Alkhatib on the awards ceremony. In it, he actually accused the federal authorities of “being a partner in the genocide in Gaza.”
Numerous high-ranking politicians and diplomats strongly condemned this strategy. Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD), who was current on the award ceremony, left the corridor after the assertion. Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) and Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor, amongst others, described the statements as unacceptable.
Backing from Filmmakers for Tuttle
There had beforehand been criticism of Tuttle’s attainable dismissal: in an open letter, tons of of filmmakers spoke out in opposition to Tuttle’s attainable dismissal. Berlinale workers additionally supported Tuttle. “We – the Berlinale team… – come from very different backgrounds, but we are absolutely in agreement on one thing: we fully support the great Tricia Tuttle as our artistic director,” it stated in a press release [berlinale.de]. “We hope this news makes it clear how much we value Tricia. She has inspired a loyalty within the team that shows how much we all care about the future of the Berlinale and cinema.”
The German Cultural Council had additionally referred to as on Weimer to “decidely support freedom of art and freedom of expression and to secure the independence of the Berlinale from state intervention.” The Cultural Council expressly doesn’t share Alkhatib’s statements, however they’re coated by freedom of expression. The essence of artwork additionally contains exploring the boundaries of what might be stated, “we have to endure that, even if it is sometimes painful,” stated the Cultural Council.
Several Berlinale workers protested in entrance of the Chancellery, holding up an indication saying “Team Tricia.”
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, February 26, 2026, 10:20 a.m
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/regional/berlin/tricia-tuttle-berlinale-100.html