The 74th Berlinale is taking place from the 15th until the 25th of February 2024, and once again it attracted the media’s attention before even starting. Less than a week before the big opening, the Berlinale press office published a statement arguing that “for decades, the Berlinale has been committed to democratic values and against all forms of right-wing extremism. The film program and the Berlinale as a cultural institution stand for this.”. However, to many, those words seemed shallow “brand activism”. Statements are needed when facts are not enough or prove the contrary. As in the case of the invitation of right-extremist politicians from the party AfD. This caused a huge uproar. Not only in light of the recent meeting in Potsdam, where far-right leaders discussed the deportation of Germans with dual citizenship, but also, because within Germany, freedom of speech has been shrinking since the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, ambiguity and contrasting decisions within the Berlinale itself are no big news, as they started a while ago. Since COVID-19, in thrive to “modernize” the festival, as wished by German Culture Minister Claudia Roth, a many-headed hydra is coming to life.
On the one hand, Europe’s biggest public film festival is trying to become more inclusive. It is succeeding by showing movies from almost all over the world – this year, for the first time, a Nepali movie is competing: Shambahla by Min Bahadur Bham. And by appointing women in leading positions, such as the new director of Berlinale Tricia Tuttle – who will take up her position in April 2024 – and the last two presidents of the jury: current Lupita Nyong’o and previous Kirsten Stewart. Parallel, however, the glamorization of the so far most political festival seems unstoppable and more evident as editions pass by. Glamorization is going hand in hand with commercialization. More Hollywood stars are walking the until now quite sober red carpet and Netflix productions are shown in prime time – see Adam Sandler and its blockbuster like Spaceman. Even the presence of Martin Scorsese, who has been awarded the honorary Golden Bear for his contribution to cinema, seems to be part of this project. Berlinale’s new aim is to attract more fans and the public, along with regular filmmakers and practitioners. However, if Scorsese is the price to pay for the Berlinale glamorization, so it be. With the only hope that Berlinale will still make niche movies available to the broad public. As the master of cinema himself put it on Tuesday, in the press conference before the projection of The Departed, this is not only the beauty of a festival but also its aim. When asked why people should still attend festivals, when almost everything is available online, he argued: “The role of the film festival is the attention to a new voice, the artist’s individual voice. At a festival, you might see a movie once and remember it for the rest of your life, and not be able to see it again. Remembering not in a nostalgic way, but that it affects how you see your life, how you think about the people around you, and how you behave”.
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