{"id":16814,"date":"2026-02-18T01:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T01:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/16814\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T01:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T01:18:08","slug":"mike-leigh-adam-mckay-tilda-swinton-and-more-berlin-alumni-sign-open-letter-denouncing-fests-silence-and-censoring-on-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/16814\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Leigh, Adam McKay, Tilda Swinton, and More Berlin Alumni Sign Open Letter Denouncing Fest\u2019s \u2018Silence\u2019 and \u2018Censoring\u2019 on Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s fair to say that the opening days of this year\u2019s Berlinale<\/a> haven\u2019t exactly gone according to plan. The festival\u2019s first week has been marred by a number of incidents in which everyone from its competition jury to the stars of various films have been asked questions about the place of politics in film to their own beliefs about the current state of the world. Many of their answers have gone viral, and not in the good way. (You can catch up on the previous events right here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

This weekend, the fervor was high enough that festival head Tricia Tuttle issued a lengthy statement in which she both defended the place of free speech at the festival and seemed to admonish those who would ask such questions of various film world luminaries. That letter does not seem to have done much to stem the rising ill will.<\/p>\n

More from IndieWire<\/p>\n

Now, Variety<\/a> has shared an open letter from more than 80 current and former participants of the Berlinale, condemning what the letter calls the festivals\u2019s \u201csilence\u201d when it comes to the conflict in Gaza and the \u201ccensoring\u201d of the artists who have attempted to speak out.<\/p>\n

Signatories include 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.<\/p>\n

The letter specifically notes that the \u201cBerlinale 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can read the full contents of the letter and see the current list of signatories below:<\/p>\n

Open Letter to the Berlinale \u2014\u00a0Feb. 17, 2026<\/p>\n

We 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

Last 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

We 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

The 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

Yet 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

As 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

Signed by
Adam 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

Best of IndieWire<\/p>\n

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