İlker Çatak, who won this year's top prize at the Berlin Film Festival for this political drama 'Yellow Letters', warns of the consequences of adopting a potential code of conduct for the Berlinale. "We would have to call it what it is: censorship.”
German-Turkish director İlker Çatak, whose film Yellow Letters recently won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear, has commented on the recommendations made by Germany’s culture ministry after Berlinale boss Tricia Tuttle was threatened with dismissal.
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Tuttle’s leadership came under threat after this year’s edition of the festival was overshadowed at first by criticism of silence regarding political debate and then by several filmmakers using their acceptance speeches during the awards ceremony to make pro-Palestinian statements and speak out about Gaza.
There has been a groundswell of support for Tuttle – not only from more than 3,000 film professionals, who signed an open letter stating that the Berlinale’s strength “lies in its ability to hold divergent perspectives and to give visibility to a plurality of voices”.
Backing for Tuttle also came from 32 global film festival directors, including Cannes head Thierry Frémaux, who signed an open letter saying “we need to maintain spaces where discomfort is embraced, where debates can be expansive, where new ideas can propagate and where unexpected – and sometimes conflicting – perspectives are made visible.”
This week, the Berlinale confirmed that Tuttle would remain as director following a supervisory board meeting. It concluded with the festival’s organising committee, KBB, issuing a series of recommendations, including the creation of a code of conduct; training for staff dealing with politically sensitive content; as well as the launch of an independent advisory forum representing diverse social groups, including Jewish voices.
German tabloid paper Bild, which is openly pro-Israel, falsely claimed that a condition of Tuttle’s continued employment would require the Berlinale and its guests to sign off on a new “code of conduct”.
The Berlinale said the supervisory board gave “recommendations rather than conditions related to Tuttle’s continued employment."
İlker Çatak has reacted to the potential adoption of such recommendations.
“An international A‑list festival like the Berlinale, a festival dedicated to the liberal arts, freedom of expression, and cinema in all its diverse voices, must never be subjected to “recommendations” or any form of external directive,” the filmmaker said in a statement for Variety.
“Beyond the inviolability of human rights and, in this case, the German Constitution, nothing may dictate how the festival leadership curates its program,” he added. “Filmmakers and guests must also be free to express everything they wish within this framework. Anything else would constitute blatant state interference in the autonomous exercise of art. We would have to call it what it is: censorship.”
Çatak had previously stated with regards to the potential firing of Tuttle: “Do they even realize that all of us - and I certainly include myself in that - I would never submit another film to the Berlinale”.
Tuttle has three years left on her five-year contract as director of the Berlinale, and all eyes are now on the festival and the German government, which during the closing ceremony was accused by Palestinian director Abdallah Al-Khatib of “being partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel.” A reference in part to Germany maintaining a staunchly pro-Israel stance, rooted in the weight of historical guilt.
Çatak’s timely Berlinale winner Yellow Letters is a political drama starring Özgü Namal and Tansu Biçer as a couple of Turkish artists whose marriage is threatened when they are targeted by the state and lose their jobs and home. It wowed audiences at this year’s Berlinale, with praise focusing on the performances and the way it comments on political persecution in Turkey.
Yellow Letters is out in cinemas in Germany this week and is due to be released in France on 1 April. Further European release dates will follow.