Berlinale co-head Carlo Chatrian Announces he’ll step down as artistic director after the 2024 edition of the festival.
The announcement was made this morning after the German Ministry for Culture and Media chose to change the Berlinale’s dual management structure as the main catalyst for his departure.
“I thought that continuity could be facilitated if I remained part of the festival, but, in the new structure, as it has been presented, it is quite clear that the conditions for me to continue as Artistic Director no longer exist,” the statement read.
“The next edition of the festival will be therefore the end of this rewarding journey.”
“For the past four years at the Berlinale,
I have been fortunate enough to work along with extraordinary people,
as in love with movies as I am,
who are totally dedicated to revitalizing one of the world’s great film festivals.
Berlinale co-head Carlo Chatrian
Together, we have helped so many talents and great stories reach out to the world. And I am grateful to all the people who have supported and believed in me.”
Chatrian’s resignation comes on the heels of his co-head, Mariette Rissenbeek, who also announced her departure as executive director after the 2024 edition of the festival.
Rissenbeek made cinema history as the first woman to head up the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2018 she was announced as co-head, in the role of executive director, alongside Chatrian in the role of artistic director. They both took up their posts in June 2019.
The joint managed structure marked an evolution for the festival which had been under the stewardship of director Dieter Kosslick which began in 2001.
Throughout their tenure, they managed to roll with twists and turns, celebrating cinema and the commerce of entertainment trade.
The co-heads navigated the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, as it was the last major festival with a full-blown market and attendance to take place that year. They then managed an online edition in 2021, and a hybrid edition in 2022, where a scaled-down physical festival took place but the market was held online only.
Last month, German Culture Minister Claudia Roth announced Berlinale to be placed back under the control of a single director. Her conclusion was the film should be led by one person.
“The necessary decisions to modernize the Berlinale, to secure its future and sustainability should now be in one hand again in order to further develop the Berlinale as a public festival in the federal capital and to strengthen it in the league of international A film festivals,” a statement from the ministry said.
Next year’s Berlin Film Festival is set to run February 15-25.
