{"id":424208,"date":"2026-02-13T20:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T20:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/424208\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T20:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T20:50:08","slug":"arundhati-roy-pulls-out-of-berlinale-over-jurys-political-statements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/424208\/","title":{"rendered":"Arundhati Roy Pulls Out of Berlinale Over Jury’s Political Statements"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe pushback from Berlinale<\/a> jury head Wim Wenders when it came to answering questions about politics sparked no shortage of headlines and outrage on the opening day of this year\u2019s festival.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s now led to one major withdrawal from Berlin, a typically highly political festival, with news that celebrated Indian author Arundhati Roy has pulled out.<\/p>\n

\n\tRoy, who was due to present her 1989 campus comedy \u201cIn Which Annie Give It Those Ones\u201d as part of the Classics section, has now said she will no longer be attending, citing the \u201cunconscionable statements\u201d made by members of jury when asked to comment about Gaza.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics,\u201d said Wenders at the press conference after fielding several questions about the current state of the world. \u201cBut 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, when the jury was asked about the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the support from the German government \u2014\u00a0which funds the festival \u2014\u00a0has given Israel, fellow jury member Ewa Puszczy\u0144ska also pushed back.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere are many other wars where genocide is committed, and we do not talk about that. So this is a very complicated question and I think it\u2019s a bit unfair asking us what do you think, how we support, not support, talking to our governments or not,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn Roy\u2019s statement announcing her withdrawal \u2014\u00a0first given to Indian publication the Wire<\/a> and verified by Variety \u2014\u00a0she said that to \u201chear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe added: \u201cIt is a way of shutting down a conversation about a crime against humanity even as it unfolds before us in real time \u2014 when artists, writers and filmmakers should be doing everything in their power to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety has reached out to the Berlinale for comment. <\/p>\n

\n\tSee Arundhati Roy\u2019s full statement below:<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones,\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough 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.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis morning, like millions of people across the world, I heard the unconscionable statements made by members of the jury of the Berlin film festival<\/a> 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 \u2013 when artists, writers and film makers should be doing everything in their power to stop it.<\/p>\n

\n\tLet 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.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf 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.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith deep regret, I must say that I will not be attending the Berlinale.<\/p>\n

\n\tArundhati Roy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The pushback from Berlinale jury head Wim Wenders when it came to answering questions about politics sparked no…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146588,155902,96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-424208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-berlin-film-festival","9":"tag-berlinale","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-gb","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}