Jornal da Mostra
Nº 321 > 28ª Mostra > 27/01/2004
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Berlin 2005 - “Without sponsorship the Berlinale would not be possible”
Dagmar Forelle, has headed the sponsorship department of the Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) for the past five years. “Without corporate sponsorship the Berlinale would not be possible in its present form. But partners from the business community appear far too seldomly in media reports about the festival, she believes.” She attributes this to an outdated reluctance to think of culture and business together. The total budget of the 55th Berlin International Film Festival is 10.5 Million Euro. 6.5 Million Euro (60% of the budget) come from public federal funding. The rest is financed by income (ticket sales e.g.) and by sponsoring. “The media aren’t doing art any favours by keeping corporate sponsorship out of the culture pages”, says Dagmar Forelle.Five years ago the Berlinale had 12 sponsors, today there are nearly 40. Without corporate sponsorship the Berlinale would not be possible in its present form. While the German Federal Government covers about 60% of the budget, the festival has to earn the difference every year. Besides the income from ticket sales and accreditation fees, sponsorship is one of the main pillars of the Berlinale budget, “We look for partners who include sponsorship of culture in their corporate philosophy and for whom film is an attractive theme,” says Forelle.
While on the side of the festival, the value creation of corporate sponsorship is continually on the rise, she says the media still shies away from properly acknowledging the contribution of sponsors. The corporate partners still appear too little in reporting on the festival, she says, attributing this shortcoming to a habitual refusal to think of culture and business at the same time, or even to mention them in the same breath. “Rather than the trade mark of the sponsor, they prefer to mention a ‘large German car manufacturer’” She believes that the media aren’t doing art any favours by keeping corporate sponsorship out of the culture pages. Because without long-term support from businesses there would be no large cultural events. It’s anachronistic, says Dagmar Forelle, to complain about cuts in public spending on culture while at the same time wrinkling one’s nose when a cultural institution receives support from business. “At the same the festival remains completely autonomous in its artistic decisions.” By the way, the master sponsors of the 55th Berlin International Film Festival are: Volkswagen, L’Oréal de Paris and ZDF (German television).
