Born in 1971, Chatrian studied literature and philosophy and also holds a degree in film studies, with a thesis on the films of Jacques Rivette. Since October 2024 he is the director of the “Museo Nazionale del Cinema” in Torino. Prior to that, he has served as artistic director in Locarno for six editions (2013/2018) and in Berlin from 2019 to 2024. He has been a programmer for Alba Film Festival, Florence Festival dei Popoli and Visions du Réel. As a journalist, author and programmer, he collaborated for several magazines and published essays and monographs on filmmakers such as Nanni Moretti, Errol Morris, Johan van der Keuken, Frederick Wiseman. He has curated retrospectives on Ernst Lubitsch, Vincente Minnelli, Otto Preminger, and on Japanese Animation. He served as Juror in Buenos Aires (Bafici), Jeonjiu, Morelia, Paris (Cinema du Reel), Sarajevo, Sundance, Toronto. He is member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.