After a tumultuous debut edition set against the tense backdrop of German elections and the escalating war in Gaza, Berlin Film Festival director Tricia Tuttle returns for her sophomore year with rock solid determination. If last year was about weathering the storm, this year is about reaffirming the Berlinale’s core mission to put cinema first and champion the indie film industry.
“I feel like having fighting words, but in a really positive way,” Tuttle says. “There is something for every buyer, every audience in that competition. Each film deserves to be there because the filmmakers are working at the top of their game.”
That breadth is central to this upcoming 76th edition of the Berlin Film Festival, the world’s second-largest film festival after Cannes by size. The European Film Market, which runs concurrently with the fest, will once again lure thousands of distributors, sales agents and financiers to the city. With 336,000 tickets sold to the public, 2,429 media representatives from 78 countries and 17,135 industry professionals, including 1,314 buyers, in attendance in 2025, Berlin remains both a public-facing cultural event and a key market where packages and completed films are sold.
The festival is also on a solid footing for now, Tuttle says, having secured a balanced budget and around 60% of income self-generated through ticket sales, sponsorship and market activity.
An American who ran the BFI London Film Festival for five years, Tuttle took over Berlin in 2024 from Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek with a mandate to re-energize the Berlinale and edge it closer to Cannes’ global prestige without sacrificing its auteur-driven DNA or its political conscience.
That balance plays out in this year’s competition, which mixes intimate European films and some eye-catching entries headlined by U.S. and U.K. talent, such as Karim Aïnouz’s starry “Rosebush Pruning” with Riley Keough, Callum Turner and Elle Fanning; Beth de Araújo’s “Josephine,” starring Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan; and Kornél Mundruczó’s “At the Sea,” toplining Amy Adams and Brett Goldstein.
European stars will also be out in force, including Juliette Binoche opposite Tom Courtenay in Lance Hammer’s “Queen at Sea,” while German actor Sandra Hüller — who broke out internationally with her roles in “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest” in 2024 — leads Markus Schleinzer’s black-and-white 17th century drama “Rose.”
Tuttle admits she started chasing “Rosebush Pruning” even before it was finished. “I knew it would be something special,” she says, singling out Fanning for a performance she calls “smart, sinister and quite satirical.”
The film underscores a broader trend across the lineup at the Berlinale, as well as other festivals, that sees Hollywood actors gravitating toward European directors.
“American producers and actors are building stronger links with European industries,” Tuttle notes, pointing to companies like Plan B, which is expanding its footprint in the U.K. “It’s the kind of independent cinema Hollywood used to make more often, films that take risks and aren’t culturally rooted in just one territory.”
The festival chief is also keen to steer buyers toward discoveries. She highlights Teodora Ana Mihai’s “Heysel 85” and Anke Blondé’s “Dust.” “These are beautifully made European films that could reach much broader audiences,” she says.
Indeed, Tuttle isn’t just about the art; she also understands the business. In her presentation of the lineup, she highlighted the fact that several movies in competition have not yet secured distribution. “We really want the Berlinale to join the two sides of the brain: the European Film Market and our public program,” she says. “We need to prove to buyers and to filmmakers that we can help them launch bigger films and help them find the right press and right distributors.”
The Berlinale will welcome back several acclaimed alumni such as Angela Schanelec, İlker Çatak and Fernando Eimbcke with their new works, underscoring the Berlinale’s long-term relationship with filmmakers across generations.
“It’s lovely to see people come back,” Tuttle says, before adding, “If the film doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But festivals like Berlin do play a role in helping talent develop over many years.”
Politics, inevitably, remains part of the Berlinale’s identity, although Tuttle resists the notion that Berlin is uniquely political. “We get labeled that more than we label ourselves,” she says. “Berlin is a political city, and it’s a very engaged audience. Often it’s the conversation around the films as much as the films themselves.”
Last year’s edition was plagued by geopolitical tensions that spilled into screenings and Q&As. Tuttle says her team spent months “re-anchoring” the festival, supporting programmers and moderators, and lowering the temperature without shying away from challenging work.
“There’s a confidence about the festival now,” she says. “We’re not afraid of films with strong points of view, but we also remind people of everything else we’re here to do.”
That includes resisting cultural boycotts.
While some festivals, like the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, have taken a hard line against Israeli films and producers, Berlin has invited some of that country’s filmmakers, including Assaf Machnes, a Berlinale Talent alum, whose film “Where To,” produced out of Germany and made with Palestinian collaborators, will play in the Perspectives section.
“The Berlinale doesn’t boycott culture workers,” she says. “Artists are the people who can hold a mirror up and ask difficult questions. Isolation is not the answer.”
Beyond geopolitics, Tuttle is increasingly concerned by what she calls the Berlinale’s “biggest political battle”: the future of cinema itself.
Independent distributors are struggling, arthouse cinemas are closing and even strong films are failing to break through. “We have infrastructure problems to solve,” she says. “How do we keep independent cinemas alive? How do distributors who take risks get a return? How do we reach younger audiences?”
The festival is experimenting with different initiatives — from low-cost tickets for 18- to 25-year-olds to a stronger presence on TikTok and Letterboxd — to lure younger viewers, but Tuttle admits there are no easy fixes. “We need to create a virtuous circle where people expect films to succeed.”
Tuttle applied that mantra in choosing Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat’s “No Good Men” as the opening night film. A German co-production set in a Kabul newsroom before the Taliban’s return to power, “No Good Men” was totally under the radar.
“We want to surprise people,” Tuttle says. “It’s a deeply touching film. There’s no one else doing for Afghan cinema what Sadat is doing.”
Ultimately, “that’s what festivals do,” she says. “We help the industry and we help audiences discover new talent. If we don’t do that, who are the next generation of filmmakers?”
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