Overview
- More than 80 Berlinale alumni signed an open letter accusing the festival of institutional silence on Gaza and policing or censoring pro-Palestinian speech.
- Signatories including Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Mike Leigh and Adam McKay urged the festival to clearly oppose what the letter calls Israel’s genocide and war crimes.
- The letter argues the festival has spoken on Iran and Ukraine but not Gaza and cites a wider industry boycott movement involving over 5,000 film workers.
- The dispute intensified after jury president Wim Wenders said filmmakers should stay out of politics, prompting at least one withdrawal by author Arundhati Roy.
- Director Tricia Tuttle rejected the allegations as inaccurate, defended the jury’s autonomy, and said artists are not obliged to answer political questions, with no policy change announced.