'Berlinale has remained what it was founded to be'

At the closing ceremony of the Berlin International Film Festival, Festival Director Tricia Tuttle reflected on the tone and significance of the past ten days, acknowledging both the global tensions surrounding the event and the role cinema continues to play in fostering dialogue.“This Berlinale has taken place in a world that feels raw and fractured,” Tuttle said before the announcement of the awards. “Many people arrived carrying grief, anger and urgency about what is happening far beyond these cinema walls. Those feelings are real. They belong in our community. We hear them.”Her remarks came at the end of a festival that unfolded against a backdrop of intense global political debate and public scrutiny.

Tuttle noted that the festival had also faced criticism during its run.“We have also been publicly challenged this year. That comes with being a visible cultural institution in a polarised moment,” she said. “Criticism is part of democracy. So is disagreement. We respect people speaking out, even when we do not agree with every claim that is made about us.”Despite the tensions, Tuttle emphasised that the festival had remained committed to its founding purpose - bringing audiences together through cinema.

“What I am proud of is this: over these ten days, the Berlinale has remained what it was founded to be — a place where people gather in public, where everyone is welcome, across difference, to sit together in the dark and look at the world through the eyes of others.”This year’s edition showcased 278 films from 80 countries, highlighting stories that addressed violence, injustice, memory and survival, alongside narratives about art, love and friendship.“Free expression at the Berlinale is not one voice. It is many voices,” Tuttle said. “Sometimes calm. Sometimes angry. Sometimes it looks silent but it is speaking through cinema. These voices can be contradictory.”She acknowledged that a film festival cannot solve global conflicts but argued that it can create space for reflection and empathy.“A festival does not resolve the world’s conflicts. But it can make space for complexity, listening and humanising each other.”According to Tuttle, that diversity of viewpoints is also reflected in the films recognised at the closing ceremony.“And we see this complexity reflected in the films - these do not offer one perspective. Though they do all share something: a deep care about this world and about people. They urge, they inspire, they demand, and they quietly or loudly insist that we see.”She concluded,“If this Berlinale has been noisy and emotionally charged, that is not a failure of cinema. That is the Berlinale doing its job. This is cinema doing its job.”