Todd Haynes, acclaimed American filmmaker, will chair the jury of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2025. Known for his versatile and unique style, Todd Haynes succeeds Lupita Nyong’o, marking another celebrated figure for Europe’s first major festival of the year.
The acclaimed American writer and director Todd Haynes will head the jury of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, scheduled for February 2025. This festival, Europe’s first major cinema event of the year, announced the news on Thursday, November 14.
The Berlinale expressed its delight at having Haynes lead the panel responsible for awarding the Golden and Silver Bears. Festival director Tricia Tuttle praised Haynes as a "dazzlingly gifted writer and director with an impressive range." She emphasized that his work is "stylistically versatile but unmistakably his."
Todd Haynes made his debut with Poison, a triptych of stories inspired by French novelist Jean Genet, which won the Teddy award for queer films at the Berlinale in 1991. Since then, he has directed numerous films, including Far From Heaven (2002), which received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Julianne Moore, playing a housewife in crisis in the film, also earned an Oscar nomination for her role.
In 2015, Cate Blanchett received an Oscar nomination for her role in Todd Haynes's Carol, a poignant story of a romance between two women that reflects his ongoing exploration of LGBTQ themes. Todd Haynes has also ventured into music-inspired cinema, notably with I'm Not There (2007), where six actors portrayed different facets of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan.
In 2021, Todd Haynes directed a documentary on the legendary New York rock band, The Velvet Underground. He now takes over the Berlinale jury chair from Mexican-Kenyan actor Lupita Nyong’o, who became the first Black person to hold this position in the festival’s history.
The Berlinale, running from February 13 to 23, is among Europe's top three film festivals alongside Cannes and Venice, serving as an essential launchpad for the film industry each year. In 2024, the top prize went to Dahomey, a documentary by Franco-Senegalese director Mati Diop, addressing Europe’s return of looted artifacts to Africa.
With AFP
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