When the words “Berlin” and “Film” are mentioned, it is nigh impossible to not visualize the trademark “Berlin International Film Festival”, it being one of the oldest film festivals in Germany and the world, that has ceaselessly kept enthusiasts and movie lovers worldwide awe-struck since the 1950s.
The Berlin International Film Festival has always kept its place among Europe’s “Big 3”, along with the Venice Film Festival held in Italy and the Cannes Film Festival in France, courtesy of fierce competition and unrelenting participation of numerous world cinema renowned figures.
Despite global upheavals in recent years, the Berlin International Film Festival manages to hold its ground with various innovative and creative organizational maneuvers, reinforcing its unique way of discovering impactful talents and cinematic works.
Much of its success could be attributed to the profound vision of Ms. Mariette Rissenbeek – Executive Director of the Berlin International Film Festival.
Born in 1956 in the Netherlands, Mariette Rissenbeek spent many years cultivating her knowledge of language, literature, sociology, and theater at two long-standing universities, Utrecht University (Netherlands) and Freie University. Universität Berlin (Germany).
In the late 80s, Mariette Rissenbeek started to tackle various cinema related jobs on distributing, marketing and producing theatrical and television films.
In 1998, Mariette Rissenbeek founded her own production company and worked with filmmaker Mika Kaurismäki – whose influence greatly impacted Finnish cinema – before jumping ship to the Munich-based production company Hofmann & Voges in 2000.
In the early 2000s, Mariette Rissenbeek worked actively on various international promotional projects for German cinema. Most notably, in 2006, she was appointed Deputy Executive Director at German Films, and became Executive Director in 2011.
From 2019 to 2024, Mariette Rissenbeek took on the mantle of Executive Director of the Berlin International Film Festival, the very first woman in this role.
With her decisive vision, Rissenbeek has made significant contributions to the Berlin International Film Festival. She was also praised by German Culture Minister Claudia Roth for promoting “a transformation” in the Berlin International Film Festival’s leadership.
Mariette Rissenbeek’s many accomplishments include successfully and safely organizing Berlin International Film Festival during the Covid19 pandemic, which contributed to great positive changes after a long global “cinematic winter” during the pandemic; and most recently, her inviting young stars such as Oscar-nominated actress Kristen Stewart to be Head of Jury in 2023 has brought a fresh outlook to this long-standing film festival.
As a member of the Jury for the Asian Film Category, Mariette Rissenbeek will certainly – together with other professional judges, including the Chairman of the Jury, renowned director and writer Dai Sijie – make the correct judgments to find the winner of the highest award at the 2nd Da Nang Asian Film Festival.
The Organizing Committee of the 2nd Da Nang Asian Film Festival (DANAFF II) has faith that Ms. Rissenbeek will have a good time in Da Nang and share her priceless insights with Vietnamese cinema.
