In 2020, Mariette Rissenbeek will become the first woman to lead the Berlin Film Festival (as executive director, with newly appointed artistic director Carlo Chatrian)—and, by extension, any of the “big three” European festivals (including Cannes and Venice). This milestone, which took 69 years to achieve, is cause for long-overdue celebration.
Rissenbeek began her career in production, before becoming familiar to lovers of German cinema through her work as head of the film-promotion agency German Films. In celebration of her staunch support for women throughout the industry, MoMA has invited her to select 11 must-see films shot by German women cinematographers. “It was very exciting but at the same time quite challenging when MoMA offered me a Carte Blanche to present a number of recent German films,” Rissenbeek says. “For me personally, the female view on society and its topics has always played a crucial role. From its very beginnings, cinema tells its stories in pictures, and they are right at the center of cinematographic art. So it seemed not only natural but, rather, mandatory to work with exactly that point of view: pictures made by women, women behind the camera.”
Organized by Rajendra Roy, The Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film.
Support for the exhibition is provided by the Annual Film Fund. Leadership support for the Annual Film Fund is provided by the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation and Steven Tisch, with major contributions from Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), Yuval Brisker Charitable Foundation, The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston, Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin, Karen and Gary Winnick, and The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art.
