80-plus film workers express dismay at Berlin fest silence on Gaza war

Over 80 actors and directors, including Tilda Swinton and Javier Bardem, have slammed the Berlinale for its silence on the war in Gaza.

In an open letter, they urged the festival’s organizers to clearly state their opposition to what they described as Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The 81 film workers also denounced comments made by this year’s president of the awards jury, Wim Wenders, who said, “We should stay out of politics.”

They accused the festival of policing filmmakers and cited several examples from last year’s Berlinale.

“We stand with our colleagues in rejecting this institutional repression and anti-Palestinian racism,” the letter stated.

Last year, filmmakers who spoke out for Palestinian life and liberty from the Berlinale stage reported being aggressively reprimanded by senior festival programmers. One filmmaker was reportedly investigated by police.

The signatories noted that the Berlinale’s actions come at a time when the world is learning “horrifying new details about the 2,842 Palestinians ‘evaporated’ by Israeli forces” in Gaza through the use of thermobaric weapons made by the U.S.