AFS 2024 Speakers
Dieter Kosslick
Director Berlinale 2001-2019
Dieter Kosslick is a German film critic, journalist and researcher. He is the current Director of the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). He has held this post since 1 May 2001 when he took over from Moritz de Hadeln.
Dieter Kosslick studied Communication, Politics and Education at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. After receiving his master's degree, he stayed on at the university in the Bavarian capital as a research assistant before moving to Hamburg in 1979 to work as speechwriter and office administrator for the First Mayor of Hamburg Hans-Ulrich Klose. In 1983 he became involved in film funding, firstly as managing director of Hamburg's cultural film fund (Hamburg Film Office). In 1986 he founded the European Low Budget Forum with the cinema "Kino auf der Alster". In 1988 he became managing director of the city's economic film fund. The same year, he was a co-founder of EFDO (European Film Distribution Office)
In July 2000 the federal state and city of Berlin as well as the Federal Government of Germany appointed him director of Germany's prestigious Berlin International Film Festival. Dieter Kosslick took up his new position in the capital as head of the Berlinale on May 1, 2001.
Dieter Kosslick has received many honours and awards for the diverse ways in which he has promoted film and culture; the Bundesverdienstkreuz, the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres among others.