«This morning, like millions of people around the world I listened to the unacceptable statements of the jury members of the Berlin Film Festival when they were asked to comment on the genocide in Gaza. Hearing them say that art shouldn’t be political is astounding. It’s a way to shut down any discussion about a crime against humanity that is taking place before our eyes in real time, while artists, writers and directors should do everything they can to stop it. I say it clearly: what happened in Gaza, and what continues to happen, is the genocide of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel supported and financed by the governments of the United States and Germany, as well as several other European countries, who are complicit in the crime. If the greatest directors and artists of our time are unable to stand up and say it, let them know that history will judge them. I am shocked and disgusted. With deep regret, I must say that I will not participate in the Berlinale.” These are the words of Arundhati Roy, made public yesterday in a long statement.
THE AUTHOR Of The God of small things he had to be at the festival to present In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989), one of the films for which he wrote the screenplay, featured in the 1990s retrospective. But in fact she won’t be there, like many artists who have stopped attending the Berlinale in recent years and presenting their films there precisely because of the silence on Gaza, common to other German cultural institutions, which do not speak out on this or on the fact that the German government continues to guarantee full military support to Israel.
As we know, the theme at the Berlinale is a taboo or at most it is whispered “in a low voice” to quote the title of the beautiful film by Leyla Bouzid which was in competition yesterday. There is no declared “censorship” and yet Gaza is never discussed, either in a talk or otherwise, and those who are here with their works seem uncomfortable addressing the subject.
After the “storm” unleashed two years ago during the awards ceremony of No Other Landwhen artists on stage had spoken for Palestine, the furious German government – the main financier of the event – had promised meticulous control over future choices, including that of the juries. And the current director, Tricia Tuttle, immediately aligned herself with the aim as soon as she took office: to avoid any controversy. This year’s jury, chaired by Wim Wenders, who is perhaps no longer in the sky above Berlin but on earth with his beliefs, appears perfectly in tune with these directives, after all, what is there to be surprised about? Even at the last Venice Film Festival, the president of the jury Alexander Payne avoided the question, preferring to hide behind a laconic: “I’m not that informed.”
It is strange, however, that Wenders, who shortly before had claimed the power of films to “change the world”, changed course as soon as Gaza was mentioned. It is also certain that the “political” nature of a film does not lie in becoming a proclamation, we know that there are more nuanced and more incisive forms, and a director like him is certainly well aware of this.
DIFFERENT BUT it is symbolically denouncing the Palestinian genocide, especially if you are in a role like his, and like that of the others with him there on stage, especially today when he is returning to silence but continues there as in the West Bank in the project of erasing an entire population. Saying it is important, the words of those who are known in the world are precious. Because silencing this, accepting that equation behind which the German and other governments have entrenched themselves to repress, i.e. criticism of the Israeli government equals anti-Semitism is the hypocrisy of a power that does not want any dissent. And the fact that a place of culture like the Berlinale, which claims its own political identity and connection with the present time and its questions, bury Palestine with gentle censorship is very serious. And it makes good intentions very unbelievable.
date:2026-02-15 13:58:00