Berlinale Director Tricia Tuttle Voices Far-Right Concerns Ahead Of German Elections & Reflects On First Edition At The Helm

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Berlin Film Festival director Tricia Tuttle has voiced her concerns about the rise of the far-right as Germany gears up for a general election this Sunday in which the extreme right-wing, Elon Musk and JD Vance-backed AfD party is projected to make significant gains. “I don’t know anyone that has an interest in a pluralistic society that values difference, that isn’t worried about what’s happening with the rise of the far-right, because that’s the antithesis of that.

It’s about closing down and fearing difference. I’m as worried as a lot of other people are here,” she said Questioned on whether she would reconsider her role at the public-funded festival if AfD were to gain any sort of administrative influence in Germany, Tuttle said it would depend on whether she was able to continue the mission she was hired for. “I’m here at the Berlinale to build a dynamic, international film festival that shows off German cinema on an international stage and also energizes local audiences.

But if the country wants something that’s more domestic and the government changes, then I’m not the right person for that,” she said.

Like its first edition in 1951 – a year in which East-West tensions were high over the future of Berlin and the Korean War – the 75th Berlinale, running from February 13 to 23, has also unfolded in tumultuous times.