Movie pageant chiefs from world wide have signed a joint assertion in assist of Berlin Movie Competition boss Tricia Tuttle, whose future will likely be debated at a gathering of its governing physique tomorrow in Berlin.
Among the many signatories are the heads of Cannes, Toronto, Sundance, Busan, Karlovy Range, Locarno, San Sebastian, Rotterdam and London.
The assertion underscores the significance of debate. It says: “We have to keep areas the place discomfort is embraced, the place debates will be expansive, the place new concepts can propagate and the place surprising – and generally conflicting – views are made seen.”
It additionally reminds stakeholders of their tasks, stating, “We want all our stakeholders – audiences, creators, pageant groups, private and non-private companions, trade, media, fellow establishments – to point out one another grace, respect and solidarity as communities and networks related by way of the love of movie, or we danger dropping these areas fully.”
Throughout its 76th version, working Feb. 12-22, the Berlin Movie Competition was at first accused of censoring political discuss when distinguished attendees, together with jury president Wim Wenders, declined to debate politics. However the controversy blew up when on closing evening, some prize-winners used their acceptance speeches to voice assist for Palestine and Gaza.
After a narrative in German tabloid Bild on Wednesday instructed that Tuttle was about to be sacked, movie enterprise insiders and Berlinale staffer rallied to her protection. A petition supporting her, signed by movie professionals – together with luminaries comparable to Sean Baker, Todd Haynes, Tilda Swinton and Kleber Mendonça Filho – gathered greater than 3,000 names.
Then, on Thursday morning, greater than 500 staffers on the pageant wrote an open letter to voice their assist for Tuttle.
Right here is the assertion in full:
As movie pageant administrators and leaders, we stand in assist of Tricia Tuttle’s want to proceed as Berlinale Competition Director, in full belief and with institutional independence.
Within the debates which have surrounded the 2026 Berlinale and different cultural and inventive occasions in previous months, we recognise the mounting pressures on movie festivals in every single place to navigate unstable occasions whereas sustaining a protected house for the change of cinema, and of concepts.
A core facet of our position as cultural custodians is to create and shield the house for filmmakers, artists, professionals and audiences to return collectively. This contains individuals who deliver with them not solely a shared love of cinema, but in addition an enormous number of lived experiences and viewpoints. That is what provides our movie festivals their vitality, relevance and worth, and it’s what pageant ‘spirit’ is constructed from.
We should additionally navigate – with care – the truth that ‘everybody’ can embrace individuals with political and private views that don’t all the time align, with one another, or with socially accepted or politically mandated positions. And whereas movie festivals which are long-lived, and well-attended, might look like indestructible assembly locations, these areas are sometimes fragile, hard-won and sophisticated to protect.
Movie festivals as we all know, and wish them, have gotten more and more difficult to maintain in a local weather the place the appreciation of nuance is collapsing. Supporting real freedom of expression, together with the liberty to articulate imperfect or unpopular opinions, has by no means been extra vital. We have to keep areas the place discomfort is embraced, the place debates will be expansive, the place new concepts can propagate and the place surprising – and generally conflicting – views are made seen.
We want all our stakeholders – audiences, creators, pageant groups, private and non-private companions, trade, media, fellow establishments – to point out one another grace, respect and solidarity as communities and networks related by way of the love of movie, or we danger dropping these areas fully. It’s so a lot simpler to destroy than it’s to construct.
Kristy Matheson, Inventive Director, BFI London Movie Competition
Jung Hanseok, Competition Director, Busan Worldwide Movie FestivalEllen Y. D. Kim, Director, Asian Contents & Movie MarketKaren Park, Program Director, Busan Worldwide Movie Competition
Thierry Frémaux, Normal Delegate, Cannes Movie FestivalChristian Jeune, Director of Movies Division – Deputy Normal Delegate, Cannes Movie Competition
Amr Mansi, Govt Director & Co-Founder, El Gouna Movie Competition
Ilda Santiago, Govt Director, Competition do Rio
Pia Lundberg, Inventive Director, Göteborg Movie FestivalMirja Wester, VD/CEO, Göteborg Movie Competition
Vanja Kaludjercic, Competition Director, Worldwide Movie Competition RotterdamClare Stewart, Managing Director, Worldwide Movie Competition Rotterdam
Karel Och, Inventive Director, Karlovy Range Worldwide Movie FestivalKryštof Mucha, Govt Director, Karlovy Range Worldwide Movie Competition
Giona A. Nazzaro, Inventive Director, Locarno Movie Competition
Damien Hodgkinson, CEO, Melbourne Worldwide Movie FestivalAl Cossar, Inventive Director, Melbourne Worldwide Movie Competition
Daniela Michel, Founding Director, Morelia Movie Competition
Roman Gutek, Head of New Horizons AssociationDorota Lech, Competition Director, New Horizons Worldwide Movie Competition
José Luis Rebordinos, Director, San Sebastian Worldwide Movie FestivalMaialen Beloki, Lucía Olaciregui – Deputy Administrators, San Sebastian Worldwide Movie Competition
Jovan Marjanović, Competition Director, Sarajevo Movie Competition
Renata de Almeida, Director, São Paulo Worldwide Movie Competition
Eugene Hernandez, Competition Director, Sundance Movie FestivalKim Yutani, Director of Programming, Sundance Movie Competition
Nashen Moodley, Competition Director, Sydney Movie FestivalFrances Wallace, CEO, Sydney Movie Competition
Julie Huntsinger, Govt Director, Telluride Movie Competition
Cameron Bailey, CEO, Toronto Worldwide Movie FestivalAnita Lee, Chief Programming Officer, Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition
Shozo Ichiyama, Programming Director, Tokyo Worldwide Movie Competition
