Carlo Chatrian Talks Upcoming Berlinale Edition, Luring Major Stars to First Post-Strikes Festival and Why His Mandate Wasn’t Renewed

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Berlin Film Festival artistic director Carlo Chatrian is in an upbeat mood as he puts the finishing touches on assembling his fourth and final edition. It appears to be shaping up nicely with a rich mix comprising prestige star-driven titles, such as the world premiere of Netflix’s “Spaceman” in which Adam Sandler plays an imperiled astronaut, and films with “political elements” that are intrinsic to the fest’s DNA. The day before revealing his Berlin Special lineup that includes several star-studded galas – the main lineup will be announced on Jan.

22 – Chatrian spoke to Variety about how the 74th edition is starting to take form and why management changes at the Berlinale aren’t distracting him from his main mission: supporting good movies. Berlin will be one of the first major festivals to take place after the Hollywood strikes. Will it benefit from this? We are very happy that we will be able to show films along with stars, which is something that happened only in part, or did not happen, in the fall.

So we are confident that the festival will have the same combination of films with political elements and films that bring entertainment and stars along with that. Talk to me about the ones with stars So to give you an idea, we will show a Netflix movie called “Spaceman” with the great Adam Sandler in the main role and Carey Mulligan at his side. We are going to also have a film from FilmNation by the German filmmaker Julia von Heinz [originally] titled “Iron Box” [about a New York businesswoman who decides to take her aging father back to his native Poland, where she hopes to explore her Jewish roots].

The film is now called “Treasure,” with Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry. We have an American film, which we really liked a lot, called “Cuckoo.” It’s German-American [directed by Tilman Singer (“Luz”)] with Hunter Schafer, who is one of the protagonists of “Euphoria.” We have, as always, some films premiering in tandem with Sundance. So we are going to announce “Sasquatch Sunset,” the very hilarious, irreverent film by the Zellner Brothers with Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg in the lead.