Following the conclusion of the 76th Berlin Film Festival, which was overshadowed by controversy stemming from international jury president Wim Wenders’ insistence that filmmakers “stay out of politics,” a special meeting has been scheduled to determine the fest’s future. It will be run by the Supervisory Board of the KBB (Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin), the organization that manages the Berlinale.
The news was first reported by Germany’s tabloid “Bild,” which speculated that festival director Tricia Tuttle’s tenure was in jeopardy. When asked to comment on the meeting, scheduled for Feb. 26, the festival press office replied via statement that the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) “confirms that on Thursday morning there will be an extraordinary meeting of the Supervisory Board of KBB GmbH at the initiative of State Minister Wolfram Weimer. Weimer is the Chair of the Supervisory Board. The meeting will include a discussion on the future direction of the Berlinale. We will not comment on any further speculation.”
Wenders’ comments at the Feb. 12 opening day press conference were in response to a journalist’s question about the festival’s stance on the war in Gaza. Noting that the Berlinale has previously “been able to show [loyalty] with people in Iran and Ukraine,” the reporter asked about the German government’s “support” of the Gaza war: “Do you, as a jury, support this selective treatment of human rights?”
Wenders replied with his comment about staying out of politics and added: “If we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics. But we are the counterweight of politics, we are the opposite of politics. We have to do the work of people, not the work of politicians.”
The fallout began from there. The following day, Michelle Yeoh and Neil Patrick Harris were among the festival attendees who made headlines for declining to weigh in on political matters. Screenwriter Arundhati Roy announced she would not be coming to the festival to support her 1989 film “In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones,” playing in the Berlinale’s Classics Section. She noted she was “shocked and disgusted” over Wenders’ stance, which she called “unconscionable.”
Then, on Feb. 17, more than 80 members of the entertainment industry, including Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Mark Ruffalo and Ken Loach, signed an open letter slamming the Berlinale over its “silence” on Gaza.
And on Saturday, a German cabinet member walked out of the closing ceremony after Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Al-Khatib — who won the Berlin Perspectives section for “Chronicles From the Siege” — said the German government was one of the “partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel … The long-awaited day is coming, and when people ask you what happened, tell them: Palestine remembers.”
As it happens, the film that won the Golden Bear, İlker Çatak’s “Yellow Letters,” is not apolitical: It stars Özgü Namal and Tansu Biçer as an artist couple who move to Istanbul after their latest play makes them a target of the state.
