The Berlin Film Festival has issued a lengthy statement following what it described as a “media storm that has swept over the Berlinale” in its first few days.
The festival got off to a rocky start on Thursday (February 12) after the competition jury – led by German filmmaker Wim Wenders – fielded questions about the conflict in Gaza. When asked if films could trigger political change, Wenders said that “movies can change the world” but “not in a political way”.
He added that filmmakers “have to stay out of politics because 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 from those comments led to author Arundhati Roy withdrawing from the Berlinale, issuing a scathing statement saying that “to hear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping”, per the Guardian.
Indeed, the political commentary at the festival has dominated headlines, with Charli XCX directly nodding to it when talking about the importance of taking The Moment to Berlin. Speaking on Saturday, she applauded the festival for “not shying away from political films, from films that have a real social angle, films by directors who really are visionary and have something to say”.
Amid the heightened scrutiny, festival head Tricia Tuttle has shared a lengthy “reflection” titled ‘On Speaking, Cinema and Politics’, which serves as a response to the deluge of questions about social and political issues put to actors and filmmakers in recent days.
“Artists are free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose,” she wrote, per Deadline. “Artists should not be expected to comment on all broader debates about a festival’s previous or current practices over which they have no control. Nor should they be expected to speak on every political issue raised to them unless they want to.”
As highlighted by the publication, most festival guests have declined to offer direct responses to journalists’ politically-oriented questions at pressers, which itself has been a talking point.
In response, a more general statement from a festival spokesperson was also shared, which read: “As we enter the first 48 hours of this year’s Festival, a media storm has swept over the Berlinale. We feel it is important to speak out – in defense of our filmmakers, and especially our Jury and Jury President.
“Some of what is currently circulating takes remarks from press conferences detached not only out of context of the full conversations but also from the lifetime of work and values these artists represent.
“We have published a reflection from our Festival Director on what we see as our responsibility: to create a space in which diverse perspectives can be heard and respected – both in the films themselves and by the people who make them, including those working with strong political impulses.”
Tuttle’s reflection went on to address questions surrounding free speech at the festival. “Free speech is happening at the Berlinale,” she wrote. “But increasingly, filmmakers are expected to answer any question put to them. They are criticised if they do not answer. They are criticised if they answer, and we do not like what they say.
“They are criticised if they cannot compress complex thoughts into a brief sound bite when a microphone is placed in front of them, when they thought they were speaking about something else,” she continued.
The lengthy statement, which you can read in full here, went on to say that the filmmakers at the Berlinale were linked by “a deep respect for human dignity”.
“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,” it concluded.
“Artists are free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose. Artists should not be expected to comment on all broader debates about a festival’s previous or current practices over which they have no control. Nor should they be expected to speak on every political issue raised to them unless they want to.”
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