Mariette Rissenbeek Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Carlo Chatrian whose mandate as artistic director of the Berlinale will come to an end next year. As we reported last week, Chatrian had been expected to stay on beyond 2024, and was surprised to learn that the German body which oversees the festival, Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin (KBB), announced that it would no extend his contract. The org had previously said it would abandon the model of having an executive director and an artistic director and return instead to having a single director, following the next edition.

Berlinale co-head Carlo Chatrian has decided to step down as artistic director after the 2024 edition of the festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Stage 32, the entertainment industry social network and educational platform, and Catalyst Studios, a U.S. production company supporting female-fronted projects, are partnering to launch a screenwriting contest for feature films with a focus on social impact, the companies announced Friday at the Venice Film Festival.

German Culture Minister Claudia Roth has announced she wants the Berlinale to be placed back under the control of a single director.

EXCLUSIVE: Outgoing Berlinale co-director Mariette Rissenbeek shared a surprising statement during an industry keynote this week at Locarno. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “What’s the Deal With Independent Cinema?” was the theme of the Locarno Film Festival’s StepIn think tank where a select group of European and international industry players exchanged views and took part in working sessions to discuss the state of the indie film industry. The unique event, now at it 11th edition, kicked off Thursday with an “out-of-the-box” introduction by feisty U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: Berlinale Series Head Julia Fidel is exiting after four years in post.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy will be the “Country of Focus” at the European Film Market In Berlin in 2024, reflecting the current flourish of the Italian film and TV industry and its growing international relevance and ambition. The spotlight on Italy during the EFM will highlight the work of Italian filmmakers and offer an opportunity to network with local producers, distributors, investors and experts. The official agreement was signed at Cannes in the Italian Pavillion by Berlinale managing director Mariëtte Rissenbeek and Roberto Stabile, head of special projects of Italy’s general directorate for cinema. Also on hand were EFM director Dennis Ruh, Nicola Borrelli, head of the film department of Italy’s culture ministry, and Venice fest chief Alberto Barbera.

A collective of Afro-German filmmakers and industry professionals have published an open letter raising concerns about what they have described as the selection of anti-Black films at the recent Berlin Film Festival.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After such a well-attended comeback edition for the Berlinale, this week’s news that festival co-head Mariëtte Rissenbeek is stepping down next year came as a big surprise. It turns out Rissenbeek will have reached retirement age (67) by March 2024, when her contract as executive director of the Berlinale expires. That leaves her with one more edition to prepare with her teammate Carlo Chatrian, the festival’s artistic director. The pair has formed a dynamic duo since being jointly appointed in 2018, succeeding Dieter Kosslick. In an interview with Variety, Rissenbeek said that after next year’s festival, she’s decided she will dedicate herself to other things she enjoys, such as social and humanitarian work. She also spoke about her personal highlights during the 2023 edition and what’s next for the Berlinale.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mariëtte Rissenbeek, who heads over the Berlin International Film Festival along with Carlo Chatrian, has decided to step down after next year’s edition. Rissenbeek’s contract expires in March 2024, and she has opted to not renew it, according to the German culture ministry, which is the main financier of the festival. German Culture Minister Claudia Roth said she regretted Rissenbeek’s decision, but praised her for prompting a “generational change” within the leadership of the cultural institution. Rissenbeek, an industry veteran who previously worked as managing director of promotion agency German Films, has reached retirement age in Germany (at 67). The executive will step down after the 74th edition of the festival which she’s due to prepare with Chatrian.

Berlinale co-head Mariette Rissenbeek has taken the decision to not renew her contract as co-head of the Berlin Film Festival after the 2024 edition.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Berlinale red carpet on Saturday became a protest platform against Iran’s repressive regime when a group of Iranian filmmakers and talents, joined by jury president Kristen Stewart, chanted “Women, Life, Freedom!” and demanded the release of imprisoned journalists and an Iranian rapper. Actress Golshifteh Farahani, who is also on the jury; “Holy Spider” actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi; and “The Siren” director Sepideh Farsi were among dozens of Iranian film professionals participating in the protests hosted by Berlinale co-directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian. Protesters with signs demanded freedom for female Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi who are behind bars, accused of “conspiring against national security” for being the first to report on Mahsa Amini’s death, and for the release of dissident Iranian hip hop artist Toomaj Salehi who has been accused of spreading propaganda and could face the death penalty.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Anne Hathaway and Kristen Stewart delivered a dose of major glamour on the red carpet on Thursday as the Berlin Film Festival returned to full-scale, in-person operation for the first time since 2020. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky revived Berlin’s role as a political platform.   The Hollywood stars were greeted by packed crowds outside the Berlinale Palast and by festival co-heads Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian.

The 2023 Berlin Film Festival will open Thursday with a live video message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The full competition lineup for the 73rd Berlin Film Festival will be unveiled this morning via a live stream that begins at 11 CET/2 am PST.

The 73rd Berlin International Film Festival will open on February 16, 2023, with the world premiere of She Came to Me, by Rebecca Miller.

Actress, screenwriter and director Kristen Stewart has been named president of the International Jury at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.“We’re excited about Kristen Stewart taking on this distinguished task. She’s one of the most talented and multi-faceted actors of her generation,” festival directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian said in a statement. “From Bella Swan to the Princess of Wales she has given life to everlasting characters.

Kristen Stewart is to head the International Jury of the Berlinale 2023.

Steven Spielberg will be feted with a special homage at the 73rd edition of the Berlin International Film Festival next February.

The Nazi past of the Berlinale’s founding director Alfred Bauer, which only publicly emerged in 2020, did not influence its structure and program under his directorship from 1951 to 1976, a new study by the festival has concluded.

The Berlinale has introduced an award for best TV series and set 2023 dates.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After two editions which were altered due to the pandemic, the Berlin Film Festival is preparing for a full-blown in-person 2023 edition which they’ve titled “Let’s Get Together.”  The 73rd Berlin International Film Festival will take place from February 16 to 26, with the industry activities hosted as part of the European Film Market on Feb. 16–22, the Berlinale Co-Production Market on Feb. 18–22 and Berlinale Talents (Feb. 18–23), among other events. The Berlinale will also express its solidarity with Ukraine through dedicated events, such as face-to-face encounters and community film experiences. “Film festivals are places that strengthen freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and peaceful dialogue,” said directors of the Berlinale, Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian.

Berlinale Calls For Acquittal Of Filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga Following Protest Arrest

Naman Ramachandran The Berlin International Film Festival has called for the acquittal of Zimbabwean author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga (“I Want a Wedding Dress”) who served on the international jury of the festival earlier this year. Dangarembga was arrested in July 2020 at a protest in Harare along with journalist Julie Barnes, where both were calling for the release of journalists and for institutional reforms.They are being charged with inciting public violence, disturbing the peace and bigotry, and with violations of COVID regulations. The women have since been released on bail, but they have also been subpoenaed 26 times.

Isabelle Huppert, recipient of this year’s Honorary Golden Bear is unable to attend the Berlin Film Festival in person due to testing positive for Covid, the festival has announced.

coronavirus infection rates to new daily records in Germany, and numerous restrictions remain in place.“We have developed a very reduced format, in consultation with health authorities here in Berlin," the festival's executive director, Mariette Rissenbeek, told Deutschlandfunk radio. The festival's main business has been reduced to seven days, with four days at the end reserved for repeat public screenings.Cinemas will only be half-filled, and movie-goers will be required to show proof of vaccination or recent recovery from COVID-19, as well as a booster shot or a negative test.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe leadup to the 2022 Berlin Film Festival has been a veritable rollercoaster ride for co-directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian due to the global spread of the Omicron variant.But while other top fests such as Sundance and Rotterdam went online again, Berlin has stayed the course due to the two chiefs’ determination to not go virtual and also to keep their February slot, albeit in its current reduced Feb. 10-16 form.

It feels like yesterday that I was on the phone to Berlinale directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian following their pre-recorded video announcement of the 2021 festival program, the three of us casting an eye forward to the following year with the hope that this pandemic would finally be behind us.