Israeli director Tom Shoval (Letter to David) has lent his support to the growing chorus of film industry voices in support of embattled Berlin Film Festival director Tricia Tuttle.
“I believe in the festival and in Patricia,” says Cheval. Hollywood Reporter. “She was doing an amazing job under impossible circumstances. She’s not someone who should be under fire.”
Hundreds of directors and actors rallied in support of Tuttle in response to media reports that she could be fired after controversy erupted over pro-Palestinian speeches at Saturday’s closing ceremony, one of which accused the German government of being an “accomplice to genocide.”
Germany’s culture minister, Wolfram Weimar, held a crisis meeting on Thursday with Tuttle and the festival’s supervisory board to discuss the “future direction of the Berlinale.” Weimar’s office issued a brief statement after the meeting, saying only that discussions “on the direction of the Berlinale will continue in the coming days.”
Tuttle’s future at the festival, where she spent two years on a five-year contract, remains uncertain.
The American festival director was criticized by conservative media in Germany after the Berlinale awards ceremony on Saturday. Syrian-Palestinian director Abdullah Al-Khatib, who won best feature film for his drama Chronicles of Siege, used his acceptance speech to sharply criticize Israel and Germany. German tabloid newspaper Bild He was also upset by a photo taken a week ago that showed Tuttle with Al-Khatib’s camera crew, many of whom were wearing keffiyehs, and one of whom was carrying a Palestinian flag. As Berlinale noted, the festival director usually takes photos with the film crew during the festival.
Cheval attended this year’s Berlinale with an abridged version of his documentary Letter to Davidin honor of his friend, actor David Cuneo, who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 and only recently released. First version of Letter to David It was shown at last year’s Berlinale, Tuttle’s first year in office.
“The Trisha I met and spoke with was a person of great integrity and human instinct,” says Shuval. THR. “She saw suffering [David’s] family. She kept politics aside and was willing to do whatever it took to bring the film to the Berlinale, show it, create awareness, but also to give us a safe place to talk about art, but also to talk about David without feeling attacked.
Tuttle adds that, as president of the Berlinale, he has “a vision of trying to return the Berlinale to what it used to be, a platform where everyone can say what they want and feel safe doing it.”
While the comments made by Al-Khatib and others at this year’s awards ceremony “may be difficult to hear,” he says, “I don’t think that’s the whole story of the Berlinale.”
Nearly 700 filmmakers, including Hollywood stars Tilda Swinton, Sean Baker and Todd Haynes, signed a petition supporting Tuttle. Other signatories include the German Ilker Chatak, whose dramatic works are famous. yellow letters, About the threat to artistic freedom under an authoritarian government – set in Türkiye but filmed in Germany – it won the 2026 Golden Bear at the Berlinale for best film.
The German and European film academies, the Jerusalem and Haifa film festivals, and some 500 Berlinale employees also offered their support to Tuttle.
“I really hope Tricia stays in her position,” says Shuval. “I know that even if she stays, she’s under a lot of pressure right now, but I think she’s the person who can handle it. Her integrity is very important to the festival. I think she needs all the help she can get.”
