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Dennis Ruh
@EFM/Angela-Regenbrecht
The shake up at the Berlin Film Festival has begun.
Just hours after former BFI London festival director Tricia Tuttle was named to take over from Carlo Chatrian and Mariëtte Rissenbeek as the new head of the Berlinale, Dennis Ruh, director of Berlin’s European Film Market (EFM) is out.
Ruh on Tuesday confirmed he will be leaving the EFM after next year’s market, saying the Berlinale has decided not to extend his contract when it expires in March 2024. Tuttle will take over as the new Berlinale boss in April.
“The designated director of the Berlinale has decided to appoint a new head of the European Film Market for the 2025 edition and to let my contract as EFM Director expire in March 2024,” Ruh said in a statement. “This news was brought to me via official channels. There was no conversation with the new Berlinale director. Therefore, the EFM in February 2024 will be the last under my leadership.”
Ruh has run the past three EFMs, after taking over from Matthijs Wouter Knol in late 2020.
“I look back on three editions in which we created important momentum for the international film and distribution industry, initially even in the newly developed virtual format,” said Ruh. “With the EFM 2023, we delivered a brilliant return to the physical format, breaking all previous participation and exhibition records. We also managed to make the market profitable again for the festival. Despite the pandemic and political conditions, and along with the implementation in a challenging bureaucratic organizational structure, I consider the past three years a great success. And the signs for the 2024 edition are promising. Our exhibition spaces are sold out, and registration numbers already exceed those of the previous year.”
Tuttle’s appointment is the start of a major overhaul at the Berlinale. The festival is facing budget cuts, part of broader belt-tightening at the German Culture Ministry, its main sponsor, and has already announced it will chop entire sections from its program next year.
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