Longtime Panorama section chief Wieland Speck is set to take on a new role at the Berlin Film Festival, as consultant on the fest’s official program. Speck (pictured left) spent 25 years overseeing the auteur-driven Panorama competition.
Speck joined Manfred Salzgeber in 1982 in building Panorama and helped introduce the Teddy Award in 1987 – the world’s first film prize for queer cinema. He took over as head of Panorama in 1992, curating more than 1,800 feature, documentary and short films during his quarter-century tenure.
“I want to thank Wieland from the bottom of my heart for the fantastic job he has done with Panorama,” said Dieter Kosslick, Berlin’s festival director. “He established a platform for ambitious independent cinema, and successfully positioned it on the international market. I’m especially pleased that he will now be assisting us with his expertise and experience, and programming the Panorama’s 40th jubilee in 2019.”
Kosslick has appointed Paz Lázaro to head up the new Panorama team that also includes Michael Stuetz and Andreas Struck (pictured, left to right, alongside Speck). Lázaro, who has been program manager of the Panorama section since 2006, will now have responsibility for curating its program.
