The Berlinale found itself called on Tuesday to take a position against Israel on the subject of the war in Gaza. More than 80 film personalities, including Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton, have condemned in an open letter the "silence" of the Berlin film festival on the "Palestinian genocide".
Published on: 02/18/2026 - 08:41 Modified on: 02/18/2026 - 17:34
To display this YouTube content, it is necessary to authorize audience measurement and advertising cookies.
An extension in your browser appears to be blocking the loading of the video player. To be able to watch this content, you must disable or uninstall it.
A controversy over Gaza that does not pass muster in Berlin. The famous international film festival was called on Tuesday, February 17, to take a stand against Israel due to its treatment of Palestinians
In an open letter signed by more than 80 actresses, actors, filmmakers and filmmakers, including Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton, the statement – coordinated by the group Film Workers for Palestine – condemns the Berlinale's "silence" on the "Palestinian genocide."
The signatories say they are "dismayed by the Berlinale's continued involvement in censoring artists who oppose the ongoing genocide perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza and by the key role of the German state in its support" for Israel.
Also read: From Gaza to Cairo, the long wait for Palestinians wishing to cross the Rafah crossing
They introduce themselves as “past and current Berlinale participants”. In 2025, Tilda Swinton was honored with an honorary Golden Bear and on this occasion denounced "the inhumanity perpetrated before our eyes".
In addition to the British actress, the signatories of the open letter include renowned directors such as the American Adam McKay, the Brazilian Fernando Meirelles and the British Mike Leigh. The names of French women Blanche Gardin and Adèle Haenel also appear on the list.
“Stay out of politics”, the controversial words of the president of the jury
All call on the Berlinale to “clearly declare its opposition to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians.” Festival management did not immediately respond.
The controversy originated in the jury's press conference at the opening of the Berlinale on February 12. Asked about the festival's position on Israel and the Gaza Strip, jury president Wim Wenders said that cinema should "stay out of politics" of which it is "the opposite."
Read alsoWrite to survive: the hope anchored in the body of a Palestinian author stuck in Gaza
“Shocked and disgusted” by this response, Indian writer Arundhati Roy announced the next day the cancellation of her visit to the festival. On Tuesday, the more than 80 personalities said they “deeply disagreed with the declaration” of Wim Wenders. For them, “we cannot dissociate one from the other”, namely cinema and politics.
On Saturday, festival director Tricia Tuttle tried to close the controversy, saying that artists could “exercise their right to freedom of expression in the way they decide”. We should not expect them “to express themselves on every political subject that is submitted to them, unless they want to,” continued Tricia Tuttle.
The keffiyeh on Ben Russell's shoulders in 2024
Due to its historical responsibility in the Shoah, Germany is one of the main supporters of Israel, which has earned it considerable criticism given, in particular, the situation in the Gaza Strip.
A commission mandated by the UN and several NGOs, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, accuse Israel of perpetrating genocide in this Palestinian territory. Israel calls the allegations “false” and “anti-Semitic.”
Also read Housing, food, money: how do the inhabitants of Gaza survive?
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the conflict has continued to shake the Berlin film festival, perceived as progressive and supported by the German government. During the 2024 edition, several filmmakers criticized these Israeli reprisals.
Keffiyeh on his shoulders, American director Ben Russell accused the Israelis of committing “genocide”. The Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra, author with the Israeli Yuval Abraham of the documentary “No Other Land” on colonization in the occupied West Bank, added – to the applause of the public – that the Gazans were being massacred by Israel.
Although the conflict again embarrasses the Berlinale this year, no demonstration or major action has so far disrupted red carpet arrivals or screenings in the modern Potsdamer Platz district.
With AFP
Keywords associated with the article
The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.
