New Berlin Film Festival Director Walks a Tightrope Over Israel

When Tricia Tuttle opens her first edition of the Berlin International Film Festival in February, she will need to tread carefully.

The Berlinale, as the festival is known here, faces financial hurdles and longstanding criticism over its lack of glamour compared with its two main European competitors, Cannes and Venice. But in her inaugural year, the greatest challenge for the festival’s new American-born director is likely to be political.

The previous edition of the Berlinale, which is largely publicly funded, became the focal point of a debate about free speech in Germany after speakers at its awards gala criticized Israel and its conduct in the war in Gaza. Lawmakers accused the event of fostering antisemitism and the culture ministry opened an investigation. Kai Wegner, Berlin’s mayor, said he expected Tuttle to “ensure such incidents do not happen again.”

So Tuttle, 54, must walk a tightrope. She needs to reinvigorate the festival and maintain its longstanding commitment to open political debate, while satisfying politicians’ demands. The Berlinale looks set to be a bellwether for whether German cultural events can maintain international relevance amid growing concern about a clampdown on free speech in the arts.

In an interview in her offices, Tuttle was measured as she discussed the task ahead.

Since she began living in Berlin earlier this year, she said, she had “realized there is a very different perception inside and outside of Germany about what constitutes antisemitism.” Local views had been shaped by the country’s responsibility for the Holocaust, she said, but there was also “a plurality of perspectives on what antisemitism is, and we need to consider all of those.”