Berlinale director Carlo Chatrian on the situation of the film press at his festival under Corona conditions.
The Italian festival organizer and longtime film critic Carlo Chatrian (50) forms the dual leadership of the Berlinale as artistic director together with Mariette Rissenbeek. After the Berlinale 2021 was divided into an online event for accredited guests and a later public festival, the 72nd edition starts this Thursday as a purely live event and then lasts six days. The FR reports daily in its feuilleton on the course of the film festival.
Mr. Chatrian, unlike other festivals during the pandemic, this Berlinale no longer allows online viewing for trade visitors. You send all of the 1,700 or so journalists to eight parallel screens in a cinema. What can I do to avoid getting infected?
The halls themselves are not dangerous. The trappings with other people, that can be dangerous. But there are security measures and tracking for that.
Even at a normal Berlinale you step on your toes…
But only journalists are allowed in the “Cinemax”, and they are vaccinated or have recovered and are tested every day. That already creates trust. And you have to wear masks all the time, eating and drinking is not allowed. Of course we don’t have any experience with that.
But testing doesn’t protect me from getting infected. And if it happens, of course the festival is over for me and I have to go into quarantine.
This is to protect you, because journalists meet a lot of people and do interviews.
I have to disagree: I have no time at all for interviews this year, you alone have reduced the competition to 18 films over six days.
The program isn’t that much denser than it used to be. There were 341 films, now there are 256.
But then the Berlinale lasted eleven days. Please explain to me how I should still see enough films from other sections to give the readers a comprehensive picture?
You’ve always had to make choices about what to see, but Cannes was no different. 24 competition films were screened over ten days. Do the math, it’s almost the same.
No, it’s not. In Cannes I was even able to see 45 films in eleven days, but there was not a single infection there either. You could write your articles comfortably in the festival building, even in the open air.
You can still go to the cinema after the award ceremony on the remaining public days.
Pardon me, you’re already awarding the prizes next Thursday, so everything has to be published by then. How do you actually imagine my festival experience? Do you think you can enjoy the festival under this pressure?
I hope the films will be worthwhile for you and broaden your view of cinema.
But why does this experience have to take place under such circumstances? The US Sundance Festival was just delighted to be able to offer online viewings in addition to theatrical screenings. They want to keep it there even after the pandemic.
The producers of the films shown at the Berlinale are not ready to go online. That would have been a different program. Sundance also lost a film as a result.
A partial offer online would have brought a lot of security. The festival argues with the big screen experience offered to Berlin audiences. But why do you want to put the film press at risk of chasing between the cinemas?
I don’t see any risk if all the press screenings are in the same cinema.
But I have to write my articles in between, so I have to go somewhere. The Berlinale only offers a lounge for about 70 people.
I explained to you how we make it possible for you to watch the competition that year as well. I don’t know how much writing space the Berlinale has in store for journalists. I don’t have this information right now.
Sorry, I do think that’s something that concerns a festival director.
It’s not my job to organize the press room, but when I used to visit the festival as a journalist, I always found space to work. But of course, if you say you can’t do your job, that’s my business. As a journalist, you are one of the most important mediators of our program. I asked what the offer for the press was like: Despite 50 percent fewer press accredited persons, we only reduced the capacity of the press lounge by around 20 percent.
I hope that I can at all. Because it takes more than films: you talk to a lot of people, collect impressions and convey the spirit of a festival. I’m not sure it can be done safely. Do you think that’s possible?
I have the impression that you already have the answer.
No, I’m interested in your answer. Do we want to allow this mass experience under Corona? It can’t be the solution to fish out a few people every day who will be infected.
Do you think we’ve been working all these weeks and months to endanger journalists? We spoke to the health authorities and developed concepts that were approved. If you still don’t feel safe enough, we understand if you decide not to visit the festival. If you ask me if a festival experience is possible: think of Venice, even in the first year of the pandemic, when many were not yet vaccinated and the health risks were much higher.
Sorry, that was in the summer, a wonderful experience, there was not a single confirmed infection. How many do you expect now?
We can’t say. The number of cases is higher than ever before in Germany. But the authorities have decided to leave everything open. We have to live with the pandemic and we have to live despite the pandemic.
Do you think fear is a good atmosphere to enjoy art?
No, if you’re scared, you better stay home.
Interview: Daniel Kothenschulte
