Petition in Support of Berlinale Chief Grows to Almost 700 Names

A petition in support of Tricia Tuttle, festival director of the Berlin Film Festival, has now grown to almost 700 film business insiders including directors, producers and actors.

Among the signatories are Oscar winning director Sean Baker, Oscar nominated filmmaker Todd Haynes, Oscar winning actress Tilda Swinton, Kleber Mendonça Filho, the director of Oscar nominated “The Secret Agent,” Oscar nominated director Oren Moverman, Ari Folman, director of Oscar nominated “Waltz With Bashir,” producer Nancy Spielberg, and Ilker Çatak, the director of Oscar nominated “The Teachers’ Lounge.”

Other names include Caroline Link, director of Oscar winner “Nowhere in Africa,” Nadav Lapid, the director of Golden Bear winner “Synonyms,” actor-writer-director Maria Schrader, an Emmy winner with “Unorthodox,” director Ira Sachs, and Maren Ade, the director of Oscar nominated “Toni Erdmann.”

The petition comes ahead of an extraordinary meeting, called by Germany’s culture minister Wolfram Weimer, of the Berlin Film Festival’s governing body on Thursday morning to discuss the “future direction” of the Berlinale. It is believed the meeting has been convened in response to criticism of political statements made at the festival.

The petition says, “If an extraordinary meeting is convened to decide the future of the festival’s leadership, more is at stake than a single appointment. What is at issue is the relationship between artistic freedom and institutional independence.”

Here is the full statement:

Open Letter on the Future of the Berlinale
As filmmakers in Germany and beyond, we are following the current debates surrounding the Berlinale and the proposed dismissal of Tricia Tuttle with deep concern. We stand in defense of the Berlinale for what it fundamentally is: a place of exchange.

The Berlinale is more than a red carpet or a series of headlines. It is a space where perspectives intersect, narratives are questioned, and social tensions are brought into view. This is where discourse unfolds – at the very heart of cinema.

Recent criticism has focused on statements made from the stage. None of these remarks were made by the festival leadership itself, but by invited filmmakers. An international film festival is not a diplomatic instrument; it is a democratic cultural space worthy of protection. Its strength lies in its ability to hold divergent perspectives and to give visibility to a plurality of voices.

A photograph of the festival leadership with filmmakers, in which a Palestinian flag was visible, has likewise been subject to criticism. Being photographed with international guests is part of the practice of such a festival. The visibility of different identities is not an endorsement; it is an expression of an open and democratic public sphere.

When personnel consequences are drawn from individual statements or symbolic interpretations, a troubling signal is sent: cultural institutions come under political pressure.

If an extraordinary meeting is convened to decide the future of the festival’s leadership, more is at stake than a single appointment. What is at issue is the relationship between artistic freedom and institutional independence.

The Berlinale has always been political — not party-political, but socially engaged. Film makes conflicts visible, opens up perspectives, and renders experiences of injustice and violence tangible. Cinema raises moral questions and asks us to endure ambiguity rather than resolve it prematurely. It illuminates power structures and gives visibility to experiences of oppression — not to deliver simple answers, but to enable meaningful public debate. That is precisely where its democratic value resides.

Especially in times of global crisis, we need spaces capable of sustaining disagreement. The independence of cultural institutions safeguards not only artistic freedom, but the vitality of democratic discourse itself.

If every controversy leads to institutional repercussions, discourse gives way to control.

We stand for a culture of exchange, not intimidation.

Where diversity remains visible, democracy remains alive.