"The biggest talk at the Berlin International Film Festival in recent days wasn't about which film would take home the prestigious Golden Bear award, but a remark made on opening day by the festival's jury president, German filmmaker Wim Wenders. When a journalist asked the jury about human rights and Gaza, Wenders replied, "We have to stay out of politics." He called filmmakers "the counterweight to politics.""
"Over the course of the festival, multiple films pulled out of the program, citing solidarity with Palestine; author Arundhati Roy dropped out due to what she called "unconscionable statements" made by members of the jury; Kaouther Ben Hania, director of the Oscar-nominated film The Voice of Hind Rajab, refused to accept an award at a gala hosted by the Cinema for Peace Foundation."
""We do not believe there is a filmmaker screening in this festival who is indifferent to what is happening in this world, who does not take the rights, the lives and the immense suffering of people in Gaza and the West Bank, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Sudan, in Iran, in Ukraine, in Minneapolis, and in a terrifying number of places, seriously.""
At the Berlin International Film Festival, a jury president's remark that filmmakers must "stay out of politics" ignited controversy and protest. Several films withdrew from the program in solidarity with Palestine, and public figures including Arundhati Roy and Kaouther Ben Hania rejected festival events. Festival director Trisha Tuttle affirmed that artists are not indifferent to global suffering and that artists remain free to exercise free speech. More than 100 artists signed a letter accusing the festival of censoring opposition to Israel's actions in Gaza and criticizing Germany's funding role. Tuttle said she understood the pain and rejected censorship allegations.
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