Carlo Chatrian Appointed Director of Italy’s National Film Museum in Turin

Former Locarno and Berlin Film Festival chief Carlo Chatrian has been appointed director of Italy’s National Film Museum in Turin.

The cinematic shrine housed in the iconic Mole Antonelliana domed tower, which is the Northern city’s main landmark, has long been known as a treasure trove of movie memorabilia, including pre-cinema magic lanterns and Federico Fellini’s red scarf and letters, as well as for its sleek glass elevator leading to a view of Turin and the Alps in the surrounding Piedmont region.

Chatrian, who has a five year mandate as head of the museum, will replace Domenico De Gaetano under whose guidance the national institution gained greater international visibility.

Chatrian was forced to step down as Berlin’s artistic director last year when the German body which oversees the festival, Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin (KBB), announced that it would not extend his contract beyond the fest’s 2024 edition.

“I welcome this new adventure with enthusiasm,” Chatrian said in a statement. “I can’t wait to start working with the museum staff and to support their competence and professionalism by putting at the service of this institution – that I feel close to – the knowledge gained over years of working abroad and the passion that has always inspired me,” he added.

As an institution, the Turin museum also serves as the core organization behind a trio of festivals: the Torino Film Festival, which is Italy’s leading indie cinema event; the ecology-themed CinemAmbiente; and the Lovers Film Festival, Europe’s first fest dedicated to LGBTQ+ films, a standout on the international circuit.

The museum also runs the three-screen Cinema Massimo movie theater, a film restoration laboratory, and has a hand in the TorinoFilmLab, a prominent incubator that supports global talents with several programs.

Former directors of the National Film Museum in Turin include current Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera.