(Berlin) Berlin International Film Festival artistic director Carlo Chatrian said on Saturday he would step down next year after Germany’s culture minister announced a new management structure for the event.
Along with general manager Mariette Rissenbeek, Mr. Chatrian had joined the “Berlinale” in 2019 to replace Dieter Kosslick, the festival’s longtime director.
Earlier this year, officials said Ms Rissenbeek had decided to step down when her contract expired in March 2024.
On Thursday, Culture Minister Claudia Roth said officials had decided the festival “should in future again be run and represented by one person”.
The minister’s office said a commission had been set up to seek a new leader for the event which, along with its peers in Cannes and Venice, is one of Europe’s leading annual film festivals.
Mr Chatrian said he was ready to start “constructive discussions with the new management on a future role in the new Berlinale team”. But in a press release published on the festival’s website on Saturday, the principal concerned said that he would not remain in post.
“I thought that continuity could be facilitated if I remained a member of the festival, but, in the new structure as it has been presented, it is clear that the conditions for me to continue as artistic director no longer exist, did he declare. The next festival will therefore mark the end of this enriching journey. ยป
Mr. Chatrian was the artistic director of the Locarno film festival in Switzerland before moving to Berlin.
The 74th Berlinale will take place from February 15 to 25, 2024.