Two days after Rupert Grint’s candid, and possibly sarcastic, declaration — “Obviously I’m against (fascism)” — reverberated across Potsdamer Platz and became a meme, Berlin Film Festival chief Tricia Tuttle is still cracking up.
Midway through her second edition at the helm of the Berlinale, the combattive festival director wastes no time addressing the political storm that flared on opening day and quickly threatened to eclipse the films themselves.
“We’re like a lightning rod for political controversy,” she says in an interview with Variety. “That’s very tiring. It’s just really hard – and so important — to make sure that the filmmakers get the cut-through and it is a challenge when that becomes the only thing that we talk about.”
For Tuttle (who’s already released a statement on the matter over the weekend) the issue isn’t whether Berlin should be political – the festival’s identity has long been marked by civic debate — but how to avoid seeing politics dominate headlines. “It’s not that I’m trying to make the festival less political. I think politics and films about politics are a really important part of every festival, and it is also a really important part of the Berlinale. I just want to keep the balance right and I want us to be talking about the art of cinema and supporting the market.”
At the halfway mark, she says she feels “really great about the filmmakers and the program and the market.” One of the aspects she’s most proud of is the diversity of storytelling and filmmaking within the lineup of this 76th edition, which opened with Shahrbanoo Sadat’s Afghan romantic comedy, “No Good Men” but also includes a few star-studded films, such as Karim Ainouz’s “Rosebush Pruning” with Callum Turner, Pamela Anderson and Elle Fanning, “The Moment” with Charli XCX, and Beth de Araújo’s “Josephine” with Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan, as well as Kornél Mundruczó’s “At the Sea” starring Amy Adams.
Tuttle suggests she also tried to lure Timothée Chalamet back with “Marty Supreme” after he sparked a fan frenzy with his appearance at the festival alongside Kylie Jenner for the German premiere of “A Complete Unknown” last year. “I think anyone would want to have Timothée Chalamet in a pink vest. We knew that our audience would love it and we loved the film,” she says. Even sans Chalamet, the fest has managed to deliver some glamorous snapshots, including Michelle Yeoh’s moving tribute alongside Sean Baker on opening night, followed by Charlie XCX, Turner and his pop star girlfriend Dua Lipa, as well as Isabelle Huppert (for “The Blood Countess”) and Sandra Huller (for “Rose”).
Because of where the festival lands in the year, Tuttle acknowledges that the Berlinale is “not going to be overdelivering into the awards season” like Cannes and Venice have. Yet, she says some Berlinale competition alumni can sometimes break through if they have the right distribution strategy, pointing to films such as Richard Linklater’s “Blue Moon” with Ethan Hawke and Mary Bronstein’s “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” starring A$AP Rocky which were held back until the fall before picking up awards momentum. With the right distribution campaign, she suggests, this year’s standouts could similarly develop “longevity and staying power” well beyond their Berlin premieres.
“I’m not going to talk about any competition films because I don’t want to privilege anyone,” she says, but adds that there are “incredible individual contributions across all of these films.”
We’ve hit the midway point in the festival. How are you feeling?
I’m feeling really great about the filmmakers and the program and the market has been really fantastic. I mean, obviously, I could have done without the… we’re like a lightning rod for political controversy. And that’s very tiring. It’s just really hard — and so important — to make sure that the filmmakers get the cut-through and it is a challenge when that becomes the only thing that we talk about.
Has it been hard to toe the line between talent and press?
That’s not so hard, I think what is true is that in a climate like this, filmmakers do become nervous. Because, let’s be honest, people do get extracted and then put into different contexts or slightly different questions. And that happens quite a lot. So I think people get really, really worried about that.
Have you had conversations with filmmakers or talent where they told you they were nervous coming to Berlin because of the political conversation?
No, not before. In fact, not at all until after the jury press conference. And then, everyone else was like, “OK, what’s going on?” And the more we realized… well, I see that it’s actually a campaign of someone asking a question in the press conferences. Then people really get nervous because they’re like, “OK, it’s a gotcha moment rather than being genuinely interested in my views on the world.” As I said in my statement, it is really true that some filmmakers want to answer those questions regardless of what their film’s about, and they want to use that platform and that moment to say something about the world they think is really important. Some people don’t, because with complex issues you can’t answer someone’s question in a way that captures the complexity of what you think about something in a short answer.
Has it been a goal of yours to try to make the festival more about cinema and less about politics?
It’s not that I’m trying to make the festival less political. I think politics and films about politics are a really important part of every festival, but it is also a really important part of the Berlinale. I just want to keep the balance right and I want us to be talking about the art of cinema and supporting the market so that films that are in the festival can get distribution and go on to have lives outside of the festival. I think one of the things that’s interesting about the Berlinale, and it’s probably always been a challenge, is that it is a festival that is many, many things. And many stakeholders want different things from the festival. So that can be a challenge. And I think the people that were calling on us to let the films cut through and maybe the politics less are not the same people who are upset right now.
This year’s opening night ceremony was not political at all and focused on honorary Golden Bear recipient Michelle Yeoh, who gave an emotional speech after a touching introduction from Sean Baker. How did that come to be?
Usually when we ask someone to be an honorary Golden Bear recipient we also talk to them about possibilities of someone who would mean something to them. So he was someone we approached because she’d just made the film with him and she sort of fell in love with working with him. We asked him and he said yes!
Do you already have someone in mind for next year’s honorary Golden Bear?
Well, you’ll have to wait and see. Yes, we might.
This year’s opening film was “No Good Men” from Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat. Did you feel any pressure to go with something that was more splashy?
No pressure. Listen, around this festival there are always pressures from every side. Everyone wants glamour — not everyone, but a lot of people. It’s not pressure, but it is one of the realities of my job is that we need big moments, but big moments that feel authentic and truthful to us as well. So because we have an incredible jury with Wim Wenders as the president and we had Michelle and we had Sean, it also is about balance. And you can find different ways to express the personality of the festival.
We could have just selected something that was more obvious or we could use that moment to spotlight a film which we felt like could reach a public audience who might really enjoy it, but who wouldn’t necessarily go to that. And I think that profile felt like a chance that we could lift a film up and give it a bit of a spotlight that it deserves and that it can use really wisely now. I think the distributors have been really positive about it, they feel like it could be a little gem that they could take out to audiences. So it worked, and people really responded to it.
One of those big moments came from “The Moment,” Charli xcx’s mockumentary that premiered at Sundance. How did that come to be?
That was Universal and A24 talking to us. You know, we go to every rightsholder and we track what they’re making and some things make sense for timing and some things don’t. So that was one we started talking about probably late spring last year. And then you keep talking and you keep tracking, and it worked really well. Charli wanted to come as well, she wanted to back the film in a couple big festivals and it made sense for her.
Did you try to get Timothée Chalamet back?
I think anyone would want to have Timothée Chalamet in a pink vest. We knew that our audience would love it and we loved the film. But I want to play around with a couple of titles every year that are German premieres in our Special Gala section. It’s really fun for the audience. So when it makes sense and when those come up, I always have those conversations. But you don’t do them unless the talent is available either. So I had a few of those conversations this year, definitely.
What are your hopes for the next edition?
I feel really proud of this program. I also loved last year, but this year I feel is more coherent and more moving in the direction that we want to move in. I think being able to, hopefully for our rightsholders, to have some successes this year and for us to be able to continue to court films to come to us because they know that they’ll have a great experience and they’ll get the right press and they’ll get buyer interest. We just have to keep building it. It is something that takes time to build, because the festival’s always been great, but it definitely lost a little bit of its connection to what’s happening at the EFM, and that’s going to take time to rebuild.
Do you think there will be any awards contenders that come out of this year’s edition?
I’m not going to talk about any competition films because I don’t want to privilege anyone, but I think there’s some incredible individual contributions across all of these films. So the right distribution campaign, which this year I think we saw with “Blue Moon” and also with “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” being held back until the autumn and then going to some great festivals and picking up on awards momentum again. That can definitely happen and I would love to see that. Because of where we are [in the year], we’re not going to be overdelivering into the awards season. But it’s nice to see films that have that kind of longevity and staying power.