Dieter Kosslick, Now Head of the Green Visions Potsdam Film Festival, Discusses Post-Berlinale Career, Impact of Climate Protection Measures

variety.com:

Ed Meza @edmezavar Dieter Kosslick may be out of the Berlinale limelight, but he continues to champion two things that remain dear to his heart, film and the environment, and as the director of a new festival, he is combining the two in the hope of tackling the climate crisis and encouraging greater sustainability for the sake of a better world.

Kosslick was appointed by the city of Potsdam to head the new Green Visions Potsdam fest, which launched last year and will see its second edition take place May 22-25.

After stepping down as Berlinale director, Kosslick eased into his new life with a personal endeavor, writing a memoir. “The transition was very simple because I had this project to write this autobiography,” Kosslick tells Variety. “And it took me one year to write this and it was a kind of fun and also it was a kind of a psychoanalytic meeting by myself.

I was the therapist and also the object. “The difference between Freud and my therapy was I was sitting at a chair typing and with Freud, you have to lie down on the sofa.” The title of his memoir, “Immer auf dem Teppich bleiben,” which translates as “Always Keep Your Feet on the Ground,” is about remaining humble, “as humble as you can be — after 19 years as a film festival director you have to pay attention because you forget completely what humility is.” While he was happy to finish his book, which he describes as part autobiography, part Berlinale memoir and part deliberation on the future of green cinema, the pandemic dashed plans for a bookstore tour in 2021.