Separating cinema and politics is proving difficult at the Berlin Film Festival, where once again Israel's military offensive in Gaza is dividing filmmakers. More than 90 actors and directors have signed an open letter condemning the organisers' reticence to speak out against what they call a "genocide" of Palestinians.
Now in its 76th year, the Berlin Film Festival has never been a stranger to political statements.
But this year the Berlinale – partly funded by the German government and with a reputation as one of Europe's most progressive big festivals – has come under fire from members of the film industry themselves.
In an open letter published by the Film Workers for Palestine collective on Tuesday, prominent figures condemned what they called "institutional silence on the genocide of Palestinians".
"We write as film workers, all of us past and current Berlinale participants, who expect the institutions in our industry to refuse complicity in the terrible violence that continues to be waged against Palestinians," it stated.
Among the 92 people who had signed the letter by Wednesday are previous Berlin Film Festival participants such as Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton, who was last year awarded its prestigious Honorary Golden Bear award.
They were joined by the likes of British filmmakers Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, the American Adam McKay and Brazil's Fernando Meirelles. French actresses Blanche Gardin and Adèle Haenel are also among the signatories.
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'Moral duty'
The letter criticises the festival for remaining "silent" about the situation in Gaza, in stark contrast to other conflicts.
"Just as the festival has made clear statements in the past about atrocities carried out against people in Iran and Ukraine, we call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel's genocide."
The signatories also condemn what they call the Berlinale's involvement "in censoring artists who oppose Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the German state’s key role in enabling it".
Because of its historical responsibility in the Holocaust, Germany is one of Israel's main supporters and continues to supply arms. This position has drawn considerable criticism, particularly since Israel launched its war in the Gaza Strip following Hamas attacks in October 2023.
This is the third year in a row that the conflict has invited itself into the discussion on and off screens in Berlin.
In 2025, according to Film Workers for Palestine, filmmakers who spoke out on behalf of Palestinians received "aggressive reprimands from senior programmers of the festival – people who wield great power in our industry". One filmmaker told the collective that a police officer was seen questioning audience members about a statement they made following a screening, while police investigated another director over the use of the phrase "From the river to the sea" in a speech.
FWP said the Berlinale leadership's public comments on that case "falsely implied the speech... was discriminatory and harmful".
The collective quoted another unnamed filmmaker as saying: "There was a feeling of paranoia in the air, of not being protected and of being persecuted, which I had never felt before at a film festival."
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During the 2024 Berlinale, American director Ben Russell, wearing a keffiyeh scarf, accused the Israelis of committing "genocide". Russell was also one of the signatories of the 2026 open letter.
The festival's documentary award that year went to No Other Land, which follows the dispossession of Palestinian communities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra and Israeli co-director Yuval Abraham were roundly applauded when they took the stage to receive the prize. In their acceptance speeches, Adra referred to Gazans being "slaughtered and massacred" while Abraham denounced a "situation of apartheid".
German politicians criticised "one-sided" remarks about Gaza by the pair and others at that year's awards ceremony, with then culture minister Claudia Roth saying the statements were "characterised by deep hatred of Israel".
Abraham later reported receiving death threats.
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Industry shift
This year, jury president Wim Wenders stirred up a hornet's nest at the opening press conference last week when he stated that cinema should "stay outside of politics".
Wenders said filmmakers were "the counterweight of politics" and should "do the work of people, not the work of politicians".
The signatories of FWP's letter said they "fervently disagree" with Wenders's comments, arguing that filmmaking and politics "cannot be separated".
Award-winning Indian novelist Arundhati Roy cancelled her planned appearance at the festival, saying she was "shocked and disgusted" that other artists would refuse to speak out about Gaza.
Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle released a statement at the weekend defending Wenders, saying his remarks had been taken out of context.
Artists are "free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose" and should not "be expected to speak on every political issue raised to them unless they want to", she wrote, nor were they responsible for a festival's previous or current practices "over which they have no control".
In an interview with Screen Daily published on Wednesday, Tuttle said she recognised that the open letter came from "the depth of anger and frustration about the suffering of people in Gaza".
But she rejected accusations of censorship, saying that the letter contained "misinformation" and "inaccurate claims" made without evidence or anonymously.
Reflecting broader conversations in the film industry, the letter refers to the more than 5,000 film professionals, including several Hollywood names, who have signed FWP's pledge not to work with Israeli film insitutions "implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people".
Other prominent members of the entertainment industry have criticised the pledge, calling it discriminatory and counterproductive.
"The tide is changing across the international film world," the FWP letter said, noting that international festivals including the Netherlands' International Documentary Festival Amsterdam and Film Fest Gent in Belgium had endorsed a "cultural boycott" of Israel.
This year's Berlinale has a selection of films from over 80 countries, with nine of the 22 films in competition directed by women. The Golden Bear, the festival's highest prize, will be awarded at the closing ceremony on Saturday.
