The introductory press conference for the 2026 Berlin Film Festival waded into political waters on Thursday as members of its competition jury, led by German filmmaker Wim Wenders, were asked questions about the festival’s stance on the Israel-Gaza war.
Wenders leads this year’s international jury, which also includes American filmmaker Reinaldo Marcus Green (“King Richard”), Polish film producer Ewa Puszczyńska (“The Zone of Interest”), Nepalese director Min Bahadur Bham (“Shambala”), South Korean actress Bae Doona (“Sense8”), Indian filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur (“Celluloid Man”) and Japanese filmmaker Hikari (“Rental Family”).
The press conference’s second question came from a journalist who noted that the Berlinale has previously “been able to show [loyalty] with people in Iran and Ukraine” and used that to ask about the German government’s “support” of the Gaza war. “Do you, as a jury, support this selective treatment of human rights?” the journalist asked.
Puszczyńska was the first to answer. “Asking this question is a little bit unfair,” the Polish producer said. ““Of course, we are trying to talk to people — every single viewer — to make them think, but we cannot be responsible for what their decision would be to support Israel or the decision to support Palestine.”
“There are many other wars where genocide is committed, and we do not talk about that,” the “Zone of Interest” producer added. “This is a very complicated question and I think it’s a bit unfair asking us what do you think, how we support, not support, talking to our governments or not.” Her comments prompted Wenders to chime in, who argued that filmmakers “have to stay out of politics.”
“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 “Perfect Days” filmmaker said. Earlier, when the jury was asked if films have the power to change the world, Wenders responded, “Movies can change the world, not in a political way.”
“No movie has really changed any politician’s idea, but you can change people’s idea of how they should live,” Wenders noted. “Cinema has an incredible power of being compassionate and being empathetic. The news [is] not, politics [is] not empathetic. But movies are.”
“There’s a big discrepancy on this planet between people who want to live their lives and governments who have other ideas,” he concluded. “I think films enter that discrepancy.”
The 2026 Berlinale is set to kick off Thursday night with Shahrbanoo Sadat’s film “No Good Men” and will run until Feb. 22.
