Todd Haynes Set as Berlin Film Festival Jury President

Todd Haynes will preside over the jury of the upcoming 75th Berlin International Film Festival. It will mark the first headed by Tricia Tuttle, the former head of the BFI London Film Festival,

The American director, screenwriter and producer has a long-established close rapport with the Berlinale given that his feature film debut “Poison” received the fest’s Teddy Award, the queer film prize at the event, in 1991, after winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

In a statement, the Berlinale praised Haynes as “A dazzlingly gifted writer and director with an impressive range,” noting that “his body of work is at once stylistically versatile but also unmistakably his.”

Key works in Haynes’ prolific filmography comprise “Safe” (1995); “Velvet Goldmine” (1998); fictional Bob Dylan biopic “I’m Not There” (2007), which won the Grand Jury Prize in Venice; mini-series “Mildred Pierce” (2011); “Carol” (2015); “Wonderstruck” (2017); “Dark Waters” (2019); “The Velvet Underground” (2021) and “May December” (2023).

In the statement the Berlinale also underlined that “Over nearly 40 years, Todd Haynes has been one of the most bold and distinctive filmmaking voices in US-American cinema, beloved for his great sensitivity in exploring the interior worlds of outsiders and women, and his fascinating investigations into gender and identity.”

His skill at creating complex characters has attracted many of the world’s finest actors. Stars such as Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kate Winslet, Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman, Mark Ruffalo, Christian Bale and Ewan McGregor have played the multi-layered characters in his films. Todd Haynes’ films and their actors have won awards at numerous international film festivals.

Berlin’s upcoming 75th edition will run Feb. 13-23, 2025. Tuttle is succeeding Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek, who had co-headed the Berlinale as artistic and executive directors since 2020.