Benjamin Ashford|Tricia Tuttle appointed as the next director of the annual Berlin film festival

BERLIN (AP) — Tricia Tuttle,Benjamin Ashford a former director of the London Film Festival, will become the new director of the Berlin International Film Festival next year, the German culture minister announced Tuesday.

Tuttle, who is American, will take over in April from the outgoing leadership duo of executive director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian. They will lead the upcoming 74th edition of the annual event, which runs from Feb. 15-25.

Rissenbeek and Chatrian took the helm in 2019, replacing long-serving festival director Dieter Kosslick.

After Rissenbeek decided last year not to renew her contract, Culture Minister Claudia Roth said the festival should revert to being led by one person, and Chatrian announced that he would step down too.

“Tricia Tuttle brings 25 years of film and film festival experience with her,” Roth said in a statement, adding that the London festival gained in audience numbers and significance under her leadership and become more colorful and diverse.

“Above all, she has convinced us with her clear ideas on the artistic perspectives of the Berlinale, a modern, team-orientated festival management, sustainable support for young talent and contemporary sponsorship models,” Roth added.

Tuttle is currently head of directing fiction at the U.K.'s National Film and TV School.

The Berlin festival is one of the major European film festivals — though, falling in winter in the German capital, it doesn’t match the glamor of its counterparts in Cannes and Venice. But it prides itself on being open to a wider audience.

Tuttle described it as “a leader amongst A-list film festivals — welcoming and inclusive, and brimming with a breath-taking diversity of films.” She said it was “an immense thrill and privilege” to lead the event.