Berlinale 2019 - an era comes to an end
16/12/2019
After 18 years Berlin Film Festival director Dieter Kosslick hands over the scepter to Carlo Chatrian after the 69th Berlinale in Berlin.
Dieter Kosslick ran down the red carpet on Marlene-Dittrich-Platz for 18 years. For 18 years, Mr. Kosslick, director and managing director of the Berlin Film Festival, brought grand style and glamor from the film industry to the German capital for 10 days a year. His trademark, the hat and the red scarf, because in February it can get really cold and Mr. Kosslick cannot be held back from temperatures of -15 degrees celsius, to accompany filmstars like Meryl Streep, Antonio Banderas, Tilda Swinton and Co. How he does it? With enough legumes and vegetables. Ginger water, ginger lemon water and yoga are his secret and the annual flu shot, he says.
Melancholy and nostalgic feelings accompany him during the preparations for his last Berlinale, but there is not much time for reflection. The lacrimal gland is pressed on the last day, he says. Dieter Kosslick has moved a lot in the past 18 years, the Berlinale is now one of the most important film festivals in the world and he has prominently placed the German film in the competition. 6,000 young people started their film career in Berlin on the Talent Campus, which Kosslick had launched during his Berlinale career. This year, Mr. Kosslick is already accompanied by his successor Carlo Chatrian (47 years, film critic). If this year's Dieter Kosslick's 18 year anniversary, there's a double point - we're curious to see what kind of surprises await us.
For the 69th time the Berlinale will take place this year. Charlotte Rampling receives the Golden Bear for her lifetime achievement. Festival director Dieter Kosslick announced that "her work has made her an unconventional and exciting cinema." Charlotte Rampling has appeared in more than 100 films and television shows since the end of the 60s and made her career breakthrough with the movie "The Damned" (La caduta degli ).
International Berlinale Jury 2019
Also the head of the Berlinale jury is top again. Juliette Binoche, who was awarded with the Silver Bear 22 years ago for the movie "The English Patient", will be jury president this year.
Justin Chang, American film critic and Los Angeles Times columnist, will also be a member of the Berlinale Jury in 2019.
Sandra Hüller, who learned acting at the Berlin University and had her film breakthrough in 2006 with the movie "Requiem" and received the Silver Bear for it.
Sebastián Lelio, director from Chile made the international breakthrough with the movie "Gloria". With this movie actress Paulina García won among others the Silver Bear for the main role. In 2017 he received the Silver Bear for the best screenplay "Una mujer fantástica".
Rajenda Roy has been senior film curator at New York's Museum of Modern Art since 2007 and has Film Festival know-how in the selection committee and has been a member of several juries on several occasions.
Trudie Styler started her career as the lead actress of the Royal Shakespeare Company and has appeared in various roles on television and cinema. Styler has been producing films since 1990 and was awarded the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury with the documentary "Moving the Mountain 1995 at the Berlinale.
Every year, the international Berlinale Jury awards the most significant prize of the Berlinale - the Golden and the Silver Bears. These are among the most prestigious awards in the film industry.
Dear Mr. Dieter Kosslick, we wish you all the best for the upcoming Berlinale, even if it gets frantic, we hope, you have the one or the other moment to breathe deeply and, above all, you have time to enjoy!