Fest heads

Source: © Jean-louis Hupe - Festival de Cannes / TIFF / Sundance / Jeff Spicer / Getty Images / @studiokilo

Clockwise from top left: Thierry Frémaux, Cameron Bailey, Eugene Hernandez, Kristy Matheson, Giona Nazzaro, Vanja Kaludjercic

Leading festival directors have published a joint statement in support of Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle and her team which highlights “the mounting pressures” on all film festivals as they navigate volatile times.

The statement is signed by festival heads including Cannes’ Thierry Frémaux, Locarno’s Giona A. Nazzaro, San Sebastian’s José Luis Rebordinos, Sundance’s Eugene Hernandez, Toronto’s Cameron Bailey, Karlovy Vary’s Karel Och, Rotterdam’s Vanja Kaludjercic and BFI London’s Kristy Matheson.

Scroll down for full statement and list of signatories

“As film festival directors and leaders, we stand in support of Tricia Tuttle’s wish to continue as Berlinale festival director, in full trust and with institutional independence,” said the statement.

Earlier today, Tuttle confirmed she wanted to continue as Berlinale director after a turbulent 76th edition that was dominated by politics, amid talk that she might stand down as a result of political pressures. Tuttle has received an outpouring of support from the industry in the past week.

The festival heads’ statement said: “In the debates that have surrounded the 2026 Berlinale and other cultural and artistic events in preceding months, we recognise the mounting pressures on film festivals everywhere to navigate volatile times while maintaining a safe space for the exchange of cinema, and of ideas.”

The statement argues that a core role of festivals is to create and protect the space for filmmakers, artists, professionals and audiences to come together. But, it says, film festivals are becoming “increasingly challenging to sustain in a climate where the appreciation of nuance is collapsing. Supporting genuine freedom of expression, including the freedom to articulate imperfect or unpopular opinions, has never been more important.”

The letter concludes with a call for audiences, creators, festival teams, public and private partners, industry, media and institutions “to show each other grace, respect and solidarity as communities and networks connected through the love of film, or we risk losing these spaces completely. It is so much easier to destroy than it is to build.” 

Festival leaders statement in full

”As film festival directors and leaders, we stand in support of Tricia Tuttle’s wish to continue as Berlinale Festival Director, in full trust and with institutional independence. 

In the debates that have surrounded the 2026 Berlinale and other cultural and artistic events in preceding months, we recognise the mounting pressures on film festivals everywhere to navigate volatile times while maintaining a safe space for the exchange of cinema, and of ideas.

A core aspect of our role as cultural custodians is to create and protect the space for filmmakers, artists, professionals and audiences to come together. This includes people who bring with them not only a shared love of cinema, but also a huge variety of lived experiences and viewpoints. This is what gives our film festivals their vitality, relevance and value, and it is what festival ‘spirit’ is made from.

We must also navigate - with care - the fact that ‘everyone’ can include people with political and personal views that don’t always align, with each other, or with socially accepted or politically mandated positions. And while film festivals that are long-lived, and well-attended, may appear to be indestructible meeting places, these spaces are often fragile, hard-won and complex to preserve.

Film festivals as we know, and need them, are becoming increasingly challenging to sustain in a climate where the appreciation of nuance is collapsing. Supporting genuine freedom of expression, including the freedom to articulate imperfect or unpopular opinions, has never been more important. We need to maintain spaces where discomfort is embraced, where debates can be expansive, where new ideas can propagate and where unexpected - and sometimes conflicting - perspectives are made visible.

We need all our stakeholders - audiences, creators, festival teams, public and private partners, industry, media, fellow institutions - to show each other grace, respect and solidarity as communities and networks connected through the love of film, or we risk losing these spaces completely. It is so much easier to destroy than it is to build.”

  • Kristy Matheson, Artistic Director, BFI London Film Festival
  • Jung Hanseok, Festival Director, Busan International Film Festival
  • Ellen Y. D. Kim, Director, Asian Contents & Film Market
  • Karen Park, Program Director, Busan International Film Festival
  • Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate, Cannes Film Festival
  • Christian Jeune, Director of Films Department - Deputy General Delegate, Cannes Film Festival
  • Amr Mansi, Executive Director & Co-Founder, El Gouna Film Festival
  • Ilda Santiago, Executive Director, Festival do Rio
  • Pia Lundberg, Artistic Director, Göteborg Film Festival
  • Mirja Wester, VD/CEO, Göteborg Film Festival
  • Vanja Kaludjercic, Festival Director, International Film Festival Rotterdam
  • Clare Stewart, Managing Director, International Film Festival Rotterdam
  • Karel Och, Artistic Director, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
  • Kryštof Mucha, Executive Director, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
  • Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director, Locarno Film Festival
  • Damien Hodgkinson, CEO, Melbourne International Film Festival
  • Al Cossar, Artistic Director, Melbourne International Film Festival
  • Daniela Michel, Founding Director, Morelia Film Festival 
  • Roman Gutek, Head of New Horizons Association
  • Dorota Lech, Festival Director, New Horizons International Film Festival
  • José Luis Rebordinos, Director, San Sebastian International Film Festival
  • Maialen Beloki, Lucía Olaciregui - Deputy Directors, San Sebastian International Film Festival
  • Jovan Marjanović, Festival Director, Sarajevo Film Festival
  • Renata de Almeida, Director, São Paulo International Film Festival 
  • Eugene Hernandez, Festival Director, Sundance Film Festival
  • Kim Yutani, Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival 
  • Nashen Moodley, Festival Director, Sydney Film Festival
  • Frances Wallace, CEO, Sydney Film Festival
  • Julie Huntsinger, Executive Director, Telluride Film Festival 
  • Cameron Bailey, CEO, Toronto International Film Festival
  • Anita Lee, Chief Programming Officer, Toronto International Film Festival
  • Shozo Ichiyama, Programming Director, Tokyo International Film Festival

 

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