{"id":296503,"date":"2026-02-18T00:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T00:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/296503\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T00:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T00:37:09","slug":"tilda-swinton-javier-bardem-call-out-berlin-for-silence-on-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/296503\/","title":{"rendered":"Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem Call Out Berlin for ‘Silence’ on Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t81 artists, including Tilda Swinton<\/a>, Javier Bardem<\/a>, Tatiana Maslany, and Adam McKay, have signed an open letter calling out the Berlin International<\/a> Film Festival for \u201ccensoring artists who oppose Israel\u2019s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the German state\u2019s key role in enabling it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe letter\u2019s signatures, all Berlin festival alumni, included actors Angeliki Papoulia, Saleh Bakri, Peter Mullan and Tobias Menzies, and such notable directors as Mike Leigh, Nan Goldin, Miguel Gomes, and Avi Mograbi. In it, the group says it expects \u201cthe institutions in our industry to refuse complicity in the terrible violence that continues to be waged against Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBerlin festival organizers, the letter argues, should issue a clear statement condemning \u201cIsrael\u2019s genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Palestinians,\u201d just as the Berlinale<\/a> has publicly condemned \u201catrocities \u200bcarried out against\u200b people in Iran and Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPolitics<\/a> has pushed its way into the center<\/a> of the Berlinale this year, almost to the exclusion of all other topics, including the films being screened. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn the festival\u2019s opening press conference last Thursday<\/a>, Berlinale jury president Wim Wenders<\/a> was asked about Gaza and the support the German government \u2014 the festival\u2019s main backer \u2014 has given Israel, including weapon sales. Wenders replied that artists \u201cshould stay out of politics,\u201d arguing that filmmaking was \u201cthe opposite of politics.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tWhat exactly Wenders meant by filmmaking being \u201cthe opposite of politics\u201d is unclear. The German word for politics, Politik, can be strictly defined as \u201cpolicy.\u201d Some have argued Wenders was suggesting art should not be a political policy statement. Whatever his meaning, his comments set off an online uproar and had an immediate effect. Acclaimed Indian author Arundhati Roy pulled out of a scheduled Berlinale appearance, calling Wenders\u2019 remarks \u201cunconscionable\u201d and \u201cjaw-dropping.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAttempts by Michelle Yeoh, who received a lifetime achievement Golden Bear honor<\/a> in Berlin, and Neil Patrick Harris<\/a>, who presented the Generation title Sunny Dancer, at the festival, to avoid talking politics when asked similar questions were met by similar social media rage.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the open letter, the signatories said they \u201cfervently disagree\u201d with Wenders that filmmaking is \u201cthe opposite of politics,\u201d arguing that \u201cYou cannot separate one from the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn response to the online backlash against the festival, Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle put out a statement pushing back on the claims that Berlin was stifling free speech. \u201cFree speech is happening at the Berlinale,\u201d the statement read, continuing, \u201cbut increasingly, filmmakers are expected to answer any question put to them. They are criticized if they do not answer. They are criticized if they answer and we do not like what they say. They are criticized 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.\u201d She added that \u201cartists should not be expected to comment on all broader debates about a festival\u2019s previous or current practices over which they have no control.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe artists\u2019 open letter claims that the \u201ctide is changing across the international film world,\u201d with many international film festivals endorsing a cultural boycott of Israel, including the Amsterdam documentary festival, Film Fest Gent and the BlackStar Film Festival in the U.S., and that \u201cmore than 5,000 film workers, including leading Hollywood and international figures,\u201d have also announced their refusal to work with \u201ccomplicit Israeli film companies and institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSee the full letter and list of signatories below.<\/p>\n

\n\tOpen Letter to the Berlinale \u2014 Feb. 17, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tWe write as film workers, all of us past and current Berlinale participants, who expect the institutions in our industry to refuse complicity in the terrible violence that continues to be waged against Palestinians. We are dismayed at the Berlinale\u2019s involvement in censoring artists who oppose Israel\u2019s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the German state\u2019s key role in enabling it. As the Palestine Film Institute has stated, the festival has been \u201cpolicing filmmakers alongside a continued commitment to collaborate with Federal Police on their investigations\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n\tLast 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 reported \u200bt\u200bo have been investigated by police, and Berlinale leadership falsely implied that \u200bt\u200bhe filmmaker\u2019s moving speech \u2013 rooted in international law and solidarity \u2013 was \u201cdiscriminatory\u201d. As another filmmaker told Film Workers for Palestine\u200b about last year\u2019s festival: \u201cthere was a feeling of paranoia in the air, of not being protected and of being persecuted, which I had never felt before at a film festival\u201d. We stand with our colleagues in rejecting this institutional repression and anti-Palestinian racism.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe fervently disagree with \u200bthe statement made by Berlinale\u200b 2026 jury president Wim Wenders\u200b that filmmaking is \u201cthe opposite of politics\u201d\u200b. You cannot separate one from the other. We are deeply concerned that the German state-funded Berlinale is helping put into practice what Irene Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion recently condemned as Germany\u2019s misuse of draconian legislation \u201cto restrict advocacy for Palestinian rights, chilling public participation and shrinking discourse in academia and the arts\u201d\u200b. This is also what Ai Weiwei recently described\u200b as Germany \u201cdoing what they did in the 1930s\u201d\u200b (agreeing with his interviewer who suggested to him that \u201cit\u2019s the same fascist impulse, just a different target\u200b\u201d). All of this at a time when we are learning horrifying new details about the 2,842 Palestinians \u201cevaporated\u201d by Israeli forces using internationally prohibited, U.S.-made thermal and thermobaric weapons. Despite abundant evidence of Israel\u2019s genocidal intent, systematic atrocity crimes and ethnic cleansing, Germany continues to supply Israel with weapons used to exterminate Palestinians in Gaza.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe tide is changing across the international film world. Many international film festivals have endorsed the cultural boycott of apartheid Israel, including the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, the world\u2019s biggest, as well as BlackStar Film Festival in the U.S., and Film Fest Gent, Belgium\u2019s largest. More than 5,000 film workers, including leading Hollywood and international figures, have also announced their refusal to work with complicit Israeli film companies and institutions.<\/p>\n

\n\tYet Berlinale has so far not even met the demands of its community to issue a statement that affirms the Palestinian right to life, dignity, and freedom; condemns the ongoing Israeli genocide of Palestinians; and commits to uphold the right of artists to speak without constraint in support of Palestinian human rights. This is the least it can \u2013 and should \u2013 do.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the Palestine Film Institute has said, \u201cwe are appalled by Berlinale\u2019s institutional silence on the genocide of Palestinians, and its unwillingness to defend the freedoms of speech and expression of filmmakers\u201d. Just as \u200bt\u200bhe festival has \u200bm\u200bade clear statements \u200bin the past about atrocities \u200bcarried out against\u200b people in Iran and Ukrain\u200be, we call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel\u2019s genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Palestinians, and completely end its involvement in shielding Israel from criticism and calls for accountability.<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety was the first to report on the artists\u2019 open letter.<\/p>\n

\n\tSigned by<\/p>\n

\n\tAdam McKay
Ad\u00e8le Haenel
Alan O\u2019Gorman
Alexandra Juhasz
Alexandre Koberidze
Alia Shawkat
Alison Oliver
Alkis Papastathopoulos
Ana Naomi de Sousa
Angeliki Papoulia
Antigoni Rota
Ariane Labed
Artemis Anastasiadou
Ashley McKenzie
Avi Mograbi
Bahija Essoussi
Ben Russell
Bingham Bryant
Blake Williams
Blanche Gardin
Brett Story
Brian Cox
Camilo Restrepo
Carice Van Houten
Charlie Shackleton
Cherien Dabis
Christopher Young
Dali Benssalah
David Osit
Deragh Campbell
Dustin Defa
Eleni Alexandrakis
Elhum Shakerifar
Emilie Deleuze
Eyal Sivan
Fernando Meirelles
Fil Ieropoulos
Geoff Arbourne
Hany Abu Assad
Hind Meddeb
James Benning
Javier Bardem
John Greyson
Jon Jost
Khalid Abdalla
Leah Borromeo
Lukas Dhont
Mahdi Fleifel
Mai Masri
Malika Zouhali-Worrall
Manuel Embalse
Marina Gioti
Marion Schmidt
Merawi Gerima
Miguel Gomes
Mike Leigh
Miranda Pennell
Namir Abdel Messeeh
Nan Goldin
Narimane Mari
Nina Menkes
Pascale Ramonda
Patricia Mazuy
Paul Laverty
Pedro Pimenta
Peter Mullan
Phaedra Vokali
Robert Greene
Saeed Taji Farouky
Saleh Bakri
Samaher Alqadi
Sarah Friedland
Sepideh Farsi
Shirin Neshat
Smaro Papaevangelou
Sofia Georgovassili
Tatiana Maslany
Thodoris Dimitropoulos
Tilda Swinton
Tobias Menzies
Tyler Taormina<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"81 artists, including Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Tatiana Maslany, and Adam McKay, have signed an open letter calling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[138345,138346,42,399,18044,16851,43,238,5990,40,38,41,39,122344],"class_list":{"0":"post-296503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-berlin-2026","9":"tag-berlinale","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-international","12":"tag-israel-gaza-conflict","13":"tag-javier-bardem","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-tilda-swinton","17":"tag-top-news","18":"tag-top-stories","19":"tag-topnews","20":"tag-topstories","21":"tag-wim-wenders"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}