Berlinale Director Tricia Tuttle Stresses Supporting Local Exhibitors, Hooking Young Audiences: ‘I Think We Need to Just Focus on How We Excite People About Cinema’

variety.com:

Ed Meza @edmezavar New Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle underscored the vital role of independent cinema, her efforts to expand the festival beyond Berlin and the importance of young filmmakers in a discussion on Wednesday at the Cinema Vision 2030 conference organized by German independent cinema association AG Kino – Gilde.

To mark the Berlinale’s 75th edition, the festival will for the first time broadcast its opening ceremony, including Tom Tykwer’s opening film “The Light,” in cinemas in seven cities throughout Germany: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart.

Describing her strategy to expand the Berlinale beyond its host city in order to make it more accessible for German audiences and at the same time strengthening relationships with exhibitors, Tuttle said “a festival can and should support exhibitors and distributors and I think having audiences engage outside of Berlin is important, but I was as interested in supporting independent cinemas outside of Berlin with something like going to opening night.” As head of the BFI London Film Festival from 2018 to 2022, in which time audiences at the event grew by 76%, she implemented a similar strategy, taking films to independent exhibitors in multiple cities across the U.K.

While expressing interest in further supporting the exhib sector, Tuttle noted that such a nationwide endeavor would be difficult for the Berlinale, pointing out that in London, films were generally closer to release.