Berlinale head says artists should not be pushed into soundbites after Arundhati Roy quit over president Wim Wenders’ apolitical comments
The Berlin film festival has issued a lengthy statement “in defence of our film-makers, and especially our jury and jury president”, after what it described as a “media storm that has swept over the Berlinale” in its first few days.
The defence follows criticism levelled at the jury, in particular president, Wim Wenders, for comments made when fielding questions about the war in Gaza. Asked during the opening press conference if films can affect political change, the German film-maker said that “movies can change the world” but “not in a political way”, adding that film-makers “have to stay out of politics”.
