Tricia Tuttle

Source: Udall Evans

Tricia Tuttle

Tricia Tuttle wants to stay on as director of Berlin Film Festival, ahead of a meeting of the festival’s supervisory board tomorrow, according to reports in the German press today. 

“I am very proud of my team and the festival and want to continue the work we have started together with full confidence and institutional independence,” Tuttle told German press agency dpa.

The director acknowledged she “discussed the possibility of my mutual resignation” with German culture minister Wolfram Weimer.

But the solidarity shown across the international industry ”restored [Tuttle’s] own clarity after some difficult weeks”, according to quotes reported this morning by German newspaper Berliner Zeitung. 

Screen has contacted the Berlinale for comment.

Tuttle’s potential departure from her role, first reported last Wednesday, has been met with a significant reaction from the international industry, with 3,000 signatories to an open letter in defence of her role, including from Tilda Swinton, Sean Baker, Lukas Dhont, Agnieszka Holland and 2026 Golden Bear winner Ilker Catak.

Tuttle’s future in the position as director was in the balance following a turbulent 76th edition of the festival, which saw a German government minister leave the closing ceremony in protest at a speech by Abdallah Al-Khatib, winner of the Berlinale Perspectives top prize for Chronicles From The Siege.

Al-Khatib, who was carrying a Palestinian flag on stage, accused the current German government of being “partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel.”

Schneider issued a statement saying he “considers these statements unacceptable and therefore left the event during the speech.”

More than 500 Berlinale employees signed a message in support of Tuttle last week, saying they have ”witnessed firsthand the clarity, integrity, and artistic vision that she has brought to the Berlinale.”

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