So much for keeping politics out of the Berlinale.
Acclaimed Indian author Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things) has pulled out of the Berlin Film Festival in response to comments by Berlinale jury president Wim Wenders that “art should not be political.”
The German director made the comments at the jury press conference on Thursday, in response to a question about the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the military support the German government, the festival’s main backer, has given Israel.
“We have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics,” Wenders said, arguing that filmmakers should be “the counterweight of politics, we are the opposite of politics. We have to do the work of people, not the work of politicians.”
Roy does not agree.
“To hear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping,” said Roy in a statement announcing she would be exiting the Berlinale jury. “It is a way of shutting down a conversation about a crime against humanity even as it unfolds before us in real time – when artists, writers and film makers should be doing everything in their power to stop it.”
She added: “I am shocked and disgusted.”
The Booker Prize-winning author was due to attend Berlin to present Pradip Krishen’s 1989 campus comedy In Which Annie Give It Those Ones, for which Roy wrote the screenplay, as part of the festival’s Classics section.
In the statement, first provided to Indian publication TheWire and verified by The Hollywood Reporter, Roy described the situation in Gaza “a genocide of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel. It is supported and funded by the governments of the United States and Germany, as well as several other countries in Europe, which makes them complicit in the crime.”
If artists and filmmakers do not take a political stance on the issue, Roy added “They should know that history will judge them.”
Wenders wasn’t alone in trying to dodge tricky political questions at this year’s Berlinale.
Neil Patrick Harris, in town with Generation title Sunny Dancer, directed by George Jaques and co-starring Bella Ramsey, faced a barrage of questions at the film’s presser on U.S. democracy. Harris also tried to take a neutral stance.
“While I have my own political opinions, I think as a performer, especially in this kind of movie, [I’m] trying to be as inclusive [as possible.]” he said. “I never read this script as a political statement. It was much more about a human growing up and having realizations about themselves, singularly and [about] friendship.”
The Berlinale used to pride itself on being the most political of the big film festivals, a tradition that dates back to its role as an event bridging East and West during the Cold War. But the Israel-Gaza war has disrupted the festival’s image of itself. The Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 and resulted in the taking of 251 hostages, and Israeli subsequent military campaign, which killed more than 70,000 in Gaza, has divided opinion across Europe and the globe.
In 2024, there were calls for a boycott of the Berlinale for refusing to publicly denounce of Israel’s military campaign. Several Arab filmmakers said they would not submit films to the festival. That year’s award ceremony was turned into a public debate over Gaza, when Palestinian-Israeli documentary No Other Land, which focuses on Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, won the 2024 Berlinale Documentary Award, and Israeli co-director Yuval Abraham used his acceptance speech to accuse his country of apartheid. That sparked a backlash in Germany, with some prominent conservative politicians calling for the Berlinale to be defunded.
Roy’s statement announcing her withdrawal was first given to Indian publication The Wire and verified by The Hollywood Reporter. THR has asked the Berlinale for comment.
Roy’s statement is below:
In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, a whimsical film that I wrote 38 years ago, was selected to be screened under the Classics section at the Berlinale 2026. There was something sweet and wonderful about this for me.
Although I have been profoundly disturbed by the positions taken by the German government and various German cultural institutions on Palestine, I have always received political solidarity when I have spoken to German audiences about my views on the genocide in Gaza. This is what made it possible for me to think of attending the screening of Annie at the Berlinale.
This morning, like millions of people across the world, I heard the unconscionable statements made by members of the jury of the Berlin film festival when they were asked to comment about the genocide in Gaza. To hear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping. It is a way of shutting down a conversation about a crime against humanity even as it unfolds before us in real time – when artists, writers and film makers should be doing everything in their power to stop it.
Let me say this clearly: what has happened in Gaza, what continues to happen, is a genocide of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel. It is supported and funded by the governments of the United States and Germany, as well as several other countries in Europe, which makes them complicit in the crime.
If the greatest film makers and artists of our time cannot stand up and say so, they should know that history will judge them. I am shocked and disgusted.
With deep regret, I must say that I will not be attending the Berlinale.
Arundhati Roy
