Indian writer Arundhati Roy said Friday she was cancelling her planned participation in the Berlin Film Festival over comments from jury president Wim Wenders that the festival had to “stay out of politics”.<\/p>\n
In a statement sent to AFP , the Booker Prize-winning author said that she was “shocked and disgusted” by the celebrated German director’s response to a question on war-torn Gaza at a press conference on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Also Read | Shocked and disgusted: Arundhati Roy withdraws from Berlin Film Festival<\/a><\/p>\n She reportedly said, “With deep regret, I must say that I will not be attending the Berlinale.”<\/p>\n According to Variety, Roy was due to present her 1989 campus comedy \u201cIn Which Annie Give It Those Ones\u201d as part of the Classics section.<\/p>\n She reportedly 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 What did Wim Wenders say?<\/p>\n After fielding several questions about the current state of the world, Wim Wenders said at the press conference, \u201cWe have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics.\u201d<\/p>\n Also Read | Arundhati Roy presents her \u2018gangster’ mother<\/a><\/p>\n \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 he was quoted by Variety as saying.<\/p>\n How did Roy react?<\/p>\n In a statement announcing her withdrawal \u2014 first given to Indian publication the Wire \u2014 Roy said that to \u201chear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping.\u201d<\/p>\n She was quoted as saying: \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 Arundhati Roy\u2019s full statement:<\/p>\n Here’s Arundhati Roy\u2019s full statement as shared by The Wire and Variety:<\/p>\n “‘In 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