Tricia Tuttle will step down as BFI Festivals Director following this year’s London Film Festival, the BFI announced today. While the BFI searches for a replacement, she will continue to be in her post until early 2023.
Tuttle has been a member of the BFI since 2000. For the past five years, she has led the BFI London Film Festival and BFI Flare, the organization’s LGBTQIA+ film festival. From 2013-17, she was Deputy Head Festivals.
“I have loved everything about my time at the BFI and as the Director of our Festivals,”Tuttle stated.
“It’s been a deep and genuine privilege to lead BFI London Film Festival and BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, and to be a senior leader in an organisation that has shaped me as a passionate film fan and a professional working in film. I took the role knowing that I believe in cultural renewal. I came in to make an impact quickly, with an aim to open up our festivals to more people and then pass the baton. And I could not be more proud of what we have achieved in these 5 years, especially given the absolutely wild challenges we have faced! I am leaving on a high and with so much love for the people and the work of the organisation.”
The BFI said Tuttle has led the body’s festivals team with “energy, resilience and creativity,”They praised her for her five-year strategy that she implemented for London Film Festival. This strategy, it claimed, has increased LFF audiences by 76% between 2019 and 2020 and established a new footprint in the UK.
The statement also highlighted Tuttle’s role in introducing series programming to the London Film Festival with special presentations of HBO’s Succession and Hulu’s Dopesick.
Ben Roberts, Chief Executive of BFI, added: ‘Tricia has been the driving force behind the BFI London Film Festival’The transformation has taken place over five years. It could not have been more important or vital than now. I would like to thank her for her creativity in adapting the LFF/BFI Flare in the face huge external challenges. This allowed us to create genuine UK-wide digital access, put us on the international stage, as well as bringing audiences incredible film experiences. Tricia is an exceptional leader, colleague, and generous leader. She leaves an incredible team behind her, and we will celebrate her success at her final festival this year.”
Tuttle, who moved from North Carolina in 1997 in order to complete a joint MA at BFI and Birkbeck University of London in Film and TV Studies has had a varied career in programming, writing, lecturing, and journalism. She previously had a five-year stint at BAFTA as a Film Programme Manager and as an Event Producer at London’s The Script Factory.