Embattled Berlinale president Tricia Tuttle will remain president of the Berlinale, but will be required to submit to new conditions, including a “code of conduct” with an “anti-Semitism taboo,” according to reports in German media.
Conservative German tabloid newspaper BildThe German Culture Ministry, which led the campaign to oust Tuttle, has reportedly been unable to agree on the terms of a separation deal with Tuttle, which has three years left on its five-year contract with the festival.
Instead, he writes BildCiting unnamed government sources, Tuttle will remain director of the Berlinale, but has agreed to accept a new advisory board and code of conduct that all festival participants will be required to sign. Code according Bildwill include a “prohibition against anti-Semitism that applies to all participants.”
Tuttle has come under intense criticism since the Berlinale awards ceremony on February 21, when a number of filmmakers made pro-Palestinian statements from the stage. Syrian-Palestinian director Abdullah Al-Khatib won the Grand Prize in the Perspectives section for his film Records from the siegeHe used his speech to attack the German government, accusing it of “participating in the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza.” In response, German Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider withdrew from the ceremony.
Tuttle was also criticized in German right-wing media for the first photo taken with him Records from the siege The film crew on February 15, which shows her standing next to the filmmakers wearing keffiyehs and carrying Palestinian flags.
In an interview with a German newspaper Relationship Post On Monday, German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer used terms such as “hate speech,” “activist attacks,” and “Israel hatred” to describe the events at this year’s Berlinale, stressing the importance of a new code of conduct to prevent them in the future. The German government is the main financial supporter of the Berlinale, as it is responsible for about 40% of its budget.
None of this – the preacher’s statements, the keffiyeh, or the flags – is against the law in Germany. How the new Berlinale Code of Conduct will be brought into line with Germany’s freedom of expression laws remains an open question. Bild Reports indicate that the German Culture Ministry also wants Tuttle to “attract more Hollywood.” [stars] To Berlin.” It is also unclear how political censorship would achieve this goal.
Calls for reform of the Berlinale came primarily from the ranks of the conservative Christian Democratic Union party, which heads Germany’s ruling coalition. talking to Bild Last week, CDU MP Ellen Demuth, a member of the parliamentary culture and media committee, said that “Germany’s most important film festival needs radical reform” and that discussions “must ultimately lead to the replacement of Tricia Tuttle as Berlinale director.”
But Sven Lehmann, a Green Party member and chairman of the culture and media committee, said he was “very pleased that Tricia Tuttle wants to stay on” as festival president. “Especially in light of the campaign launched against her last week, this shows her remarkable strength and deep commitment to the Berlinale and the art of cinema,” Lehmann said in a statement on his official website on Tuesday. He continued: “Secretary of State for Culture Weimar has lost a great deal of trust through his actions in recent days. It is now up to him to regain that trust – both with Tricia Tuttle and the Berlinale team, and with the German and international cultural scene.” “I expect the federal government and the Berlinale to develop a workable plan for the future of the Berlinale, including how to deal with polarizing political statements. The Berlinale must remain a place of culture and free exchange, not a place of intimidation.”
In response to calls for her dismissal, hundreds of actors, directors and film industry professionals, including Sean Baker, Tilda Swinton, Vicky Cripps and Wim Wenders, came out in support of Tuttle. On Tuesday, 32 international film festival presidents, including Cannes’ Thierry Frémaux, Sundance’s Eugene Hernandez, and TIFF’s Cameron Bailey, published an open letter “in support of Tricia Tuttle’s desire to continue as director of the Berlinale.”
Hollywood Reporter Contacted Berlinale for comment.
