Berlinale Axes Sections as Budget Cuts Hit the Festival
The Berlinale has announced that the film festival will make programming changes beginning next year amid budget cuts leading into the 2024 season.
The 74th annual festival is set to run from February 15 to 25 next year, but without signature programming like the episodic section, the German filmmaking spotlight, and more. Berlinale is the largest public film festival in the world and will cut its total number of films to approximately 200, as opposed to the 287 films that screened across all sections in 2023. Each section, except for the main competition, will present fewer films starting in 2024. Potsdamer Platz and the prestigious Berlinale Palast will remain the heart of the festival, serving as the central point for the festival’s city-wide network.
“Like many other areas of society, cultural institutions and festivals are affected by considerable cost increases but unchanged budgets,” the festival executives said in a statement shared with IndieWire. “Keeping this in mind, we must introduce structural adjustments to create a stable budgetary foundation for the organization and implementation of the Berlinale going forward. This process brings with it the opportunity to optimize the presentation and perception of the invited films using a more focused program.”
The cut programming includes the Perspektive Deutsches Kino sidebar focusing on rising German directors and the Berlinale Series for TV shows. The Berlinale Series will instead be folded into the Berlinale Special Gala section, to be overseen by artistic director Carlo Chatrian after Julia Fidel exited as head of Berlinale Series.
The budget cutse are in part due to the German Culture Ministry, which co-finances the festival for approximately $11.8 million annually. An additional $2.4 million was spent in 2022 and 2023 to cover rising costs, but the extra funds are not moving forward in 2024.
This year’s Berlin jury was run by Kristen Stewart and bestowed the Golden Bear award to French documentary “On the Adamant,” helmed by Nicolas Philibert. The Silver Bear for Best Director went to Philippe Garrel for “The Plough,” while the Silver Bear for Best Lead Performance notably went to child star Sofia Otero for “20,000 Species of Bees.” Steven Spielberg received the honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement.