‘To hear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping’
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‘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 filmmakers should be doing everything in their power to stop it.’
By American Kahani News Desk
In what has become a global controversy, acclaimed Indian author Arundhati Roy has withdrawn from the Berlin International Film Festival, saying she is “shocked and disgusted” by what she called the jury’s “unconscionable” refusal to comment on Gaza at a press conference where they suggested that art should stay out of politics.
Roy, whose novel The God of Small Things won the 1997 Booker Prize, had been scheduled to present a restored version of the 1989 film, In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, which she wrote and starred in, as part of the festival’s Classics section, according to Variety and other media outlets.
The controversy erupted at a press conference when jury president, Wim Wenders, the celebrated German filmmaker, was asked about Gaza and Germany’s support for 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, according to The Hollywood Reporter and multiple other sources. “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.”
Wenders also stated that “movies can change the world” but “not in a political way,” according to Variety.
Fellow jury member Ewa Puszczyńska, producer of The Zone of Interest, was asked about whether the German government, which backs the festival, was complicit in the genocide in Gaza, according to Deadline.
“There are many other wars where genocide is committed, and we do not talk about that,” Puszczyńska said, according to AL-Monitor and other outlets. “This is a very complicated question and I think it’s a bit unfair asking us what do you think, how we support, not support…”
In a statement, Roy said she was appalled by the jury’s comments.
“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,” Roy wrote in her statement. “To hear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping.”
Roy continued: “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 filmmakers should be doing everything in their power to stop it.”
Roy wrote that she had initially been willing to attend despite her concerns about German institutions’ positions on Palestine because German audiences had shown solidarity with her views.
“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,” she wrote, according to Variety. “This is what made it possible for me to think of attending the screening of Annie at the Berlinale.”
In her statement, Roy did not mince words about what she considers genocide in Gaza and who she holds responsible.
“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,” Roy wrote, according to multiple media outlets. “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.”
She added: “If the greatest filmmakers and artists of our time cannot stand up and say so, they should know that history will judge them. I am shocked and disgusted.”
Roy concluded: “With deep regret, I must say that I will not be attending the Berlinale,” according to her statement published in Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, The Wire and other outlets.
Variety reports: More current and former participants of the Berlinale, including Mark Ruffalo, Ken Loach and “Zone of Interest” producer James Wilson, have now signed an open letter to the festival condemning what it claims has been its “silence” when it comes to the conflict in Gaza and the “censoring” of artists who have spoken out.
The original signatories of letter, released on February 17, 2026 and saying it “expect the institutions in our industry to refuse complicity in the terrible violence that continues to be waged against Palestinians,” included actors Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Angeliki Papoulia, Saleh Bakri, Tatiana Maslany, Peter Mullan and Tobias Menzies, as well as directors Mike Leigh, Lukas Dhont, Nan Goldin, Miguel Gomes, Adam McKay and Avi Mograbi.
In the open letter, the signatories assert that they “fervently disagree” with Wenders views on filmmaking and politics. “You cannot separate one from the other,” they say, adding that the “tide is changing across the international film world,” citing the refusal of more than 5,000 film workers, including several major Hollywood names, to work with “complicit Israeli film companies and institutions.”
As of Feb 19, the letter stands at 104 signatories
This story was aggregated by AI from several news reports and edited by American Kahani’s News Desk.
All images courtesy Instagram/Social Media