Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick publishes memoir

Designer hat, elegant coat, red scarf: Dieter Kosslick cut a dapper figure on the Berlinale Palace's red carpet from 2001 to 2019. But the artistic director and CEO of the Berlin International Film Festival not only welcomed stars of the global film world: he oversaw the rise of the Berlinale as a major global film event.

'Mr Berlinale,' as Kosslick was sometimes known, put the festival on the map by training its thematic spotlight on social and political issues such as human rights, climate change and migration. He added glamour to issues such as sustainability and the environment, promoted young talent, helped reintroduce German films to an international audience, and made the Berlinale the biggest audience festival in the world.

More than a memoir

Since hanging up his hat in 2019, Kosslick has had time to reminisce and pen his memoir, Dieter Kosslick: Schön auf dem Teppich bleiben (Keep your feet on the carpet), which was published this week in Germany.

In it we learn that Kosslick's trademark hat is a "barbisio from the last hatter in Piedmont, Italy," a gift from a renowned Italian fashion designer. This, and many other tidbits make up almost 300 pages of multi-layered storytelling.

There is the evolution from a postwar childhood in Baden-Württemberg to his star-studded career in Berlin. The book also offers a behind-the-scenes look into one of the largest film forums in the world, including the crossroads one faces between creative and financial aspects. And finally, Kosslick shares his concerns about the future of cinema and its chances of survival in the age of streaming and social media.

A celebrity balancing act

The book will delight fans of celebrity trivia. How do you charm Meryl Streep with a bouquet of flowers bought at a petrol station? How do you convince Clint Eastwood to come to Berlin for the first time in his life? How do you protect the Rolling Stones from the noise of Berlin's countless construction sites — only to realize that the old rockers' hearing may not be all that sensitive anymore? What do you discuss with Isabella Rossellini over lunch? And what is Lars von Trier's dog's name?

No festival is without its mishaps either. He cites, for example, the Russian style icon Renata Litvinova, a jury member in 2002, who lost her fabulous stilettos during the award ceremony and presented an award to "a director who was not even present."

And how do you lure star power to a city that, unlike balmy evenings on the beach in Cannes or romantic canal promenades in Venice, can only offer February cold and gloom?

Kosslick found a way, and in the book describes the interesting crossover between European and arthouse film scenes and Hollywood in Berlin. 

Films that changed the world

The memoir is not simply a retrospective. Kosslick's analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on world film, and his predictions for the future, make for compelling reading.

"The pandemic changed everything," he writes. "Suddenly, topics that I have dealt with intensively in my professional life have become important in a new way: ecology, sustainability, diversity, justice."

He sees the current lockdown as an opportunity to reflect on the future, "the last free time when you can still think about what the world of tomorrow should look like. If you don't do it now, then it's literally too late."

In an ideal world, cinema would play a central role. Kosslick firmly believes in the rebirth of the industry, and that films can change the world.

He cites for instance when Bosnian director Jasmila Zbanic won the Golden Bear for Esma's Secret in 2006. "That was the film about Srebrenica in Bosnia, the siege of Sarajevo and the mass rapes that followed," he said. "I still remember Zbanic standing on the stage and saying, 'This bear will help find the two war criminals Karadzic and Mladic.' And they were found. And the abused women were recognized as war victims."

The father of a 13-year-old believes that cinemas are integral cultural spaces. Young people must learn "not only to watch films on the screen at home or on a wristwatch," he writes. "Kids have to get used to seeing a film on the big screen with other people in a room that we call a 'cinema'."

Adapted from the German by Brenda Haas