Dieter Kosslick, Director, Berlin International Film Festival

At the same time, as head curator, he’s expected to make sure the choice of films has enough depth. On Talking Germany, the 65-year-old, who was born in Pforzheim, explains how he positions the world’s largest publicly attended festival to compete with the major festivals in Cannes and Venice.

Dieter Kosslick was just three months old when his father died in an industrial accident. His mother raised him alone in the post-war West Germany. After studying communications, politics and education, he took a position as speechwriter and office manager for Hamburg mayor Hans-Ulrich Klose, in 1979. Three years later he was appointed editor at “the influential leftist politics magazine "konkret” . In 1983, he made the leap to film production. In the 90s he transformed the North Rhine-Westfalia film foundation into the leading organization of its kind in Germany, and the second-largest in Europe. Since 2001, he's run the Berlin International Film Festival, breathing new life into the festival and promoting German films and up-and-coming talent. As a member of the “slow food” movement, he’s helped launch the Culinary Cinema section. Dieter Kosslick lives in Berlin with Wilma Harzenetter, a film producer, and their son.

(First Broadcast 20 May 2013)