The Berlin Film Festival got some good news on Monday after the German Culture Ministry approved an additional $2 million (€1.9 million) for its budget this year.
German Culture Minister Claudia Roth unveiled the budget boost in the film trade publication Blickpunkt Film. The additional cash means the Berlinale will have $13.2 million (€12.8 million) to spend, a 17 percent increase, for its 75th-anniversary edition, which runs Feb. 13-23.
“Claudia Roth is particularly keen to strengthen the Berlinale in its 75th year and under the new leadership of Tricia Tuttle with additional resources in order to ensure that the world’s largest public film festival has a fitting anniversary and that the dedicated team around Tricia Tuttle has a successful new start to the Berlinale,” a culture ministry representative told Blickpunkt Film.
The news was announced on the eve of the Berlinale’s annual press conference on Tuesday. It comes after major budget cuts at the festival that forced the Berlinale to undertake belt-tightening measures across the board, including trimming the number of films it screens and dropping entire sections. The cutbacks were cited as one reason for the exit of Berlinale co-directors Carlo Chatrian and Mariëtte Rissenbeek. Former London Film Festival boss Tricia Tuttle took over as festival director and will host her first Berlinale next month.
The city of Berlin has tried to partially plug the hole left by the federal budget cuts. In late 2023, the city government pledged an additional $2.2 million (€2 million) for the festival, but that funding is set to run out this year.
