Hours before the Berlin International Film Festival opened on February 12, a livestreamed press conference introducing the international jury became the first flashpoint of the festival’s latest controversy. Festival director Tricia Tuttle presented jury president Wim Wenders and six fellow jurors: Min Bahadur, Bae Doona, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Reinaldo Marcus Green, HIKARI and Ewa Puszczynska.
The feed cut out as political journalist Tilo Jung began asking whether the Berlinale and the German government had taken a position on Gaza, noting the festival’s past expressions of solidarity with Iran and Ukraine and asking why similar solidarity had not been shown for Palestine. Jung’s question — framed to challenge the festival’s funding ties to the German state and alleged complicity in the Gaza conflict — was interrupted mid-sentence when the livestream went offline.
Organizers said the interruption was a technical fault and committed to publishing the full recording on the Berlinale website. Jung expressed scepticism, saying Tuttle had tried to deflect the subject during the live event and that some jury members sounded tense and evasive. Later camera recordings and the posted conference footage show the exchange continued, though the interruption coincided with the most pointed question.
When the discussion resumed in front of other cameras, Puszczynska called the question “a little bit unfair,” arguing that cinema’s role is to provoke thought rather than to take responsibility for political decisions. Wenders added that filmmakers and festivals should “stay out of politics,” saying overtly political cinema enters the realm of politics itself and that film’s strength lies in offering empathy and reflection — a counterweight to politics and news.
Jung described the jury’s responses as “questionable,” arguing a major international festival should not have opened under such fraught circumstances. The episode underscores wider tensions around the Berlinale’s relationship with political issues: the festival has previously been praised for taking positions, for example in 2024 when it disinvited five far-right AfD politicians from the opening gala, and Wenders has said he supported the festival taking stances on some occasions.
At the same time, the Berlinale has been criticised from opposing directions over the Gaza conflict. Some accuse it of failing to show solidarity with Palestinians; others have accused it of antisemitism when it hosted critical voices. In 2024, Israeli co-director Yuval Abraham of the documentary No Other Land faced death threats after calling for an end to what he described as apartheid during an awards ceremony — a moment that drew heated debate on and off the festival stage.
Ahead of this recent edition, the Berlinale reaffirmed its commitment to freedom of expression, saying guests have a right to speak within the law and that filmmakers should be free to discuss the impulses behind their work. “The Berlinale welcomes different points of view, even if this creates tension or controversy,” the festival said.
The incident at the jury press conference — with a livestream cut at a politically charged question and conflicting accounts about why — highlights the challenge festivals face when cultural platforms intersect with geopolitical conflicts. The full press conference has been made available on the Berlinale website for viewers to judge the exchange themselves.
Edited by: Andreas Illmer
Update: A link to the Berlinale press conference was added after publication.