An emergency supervisory board meeting on Thursday failed to resolve whether Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle will remain in her post as the Berlin International Film Festival faces intense fallout from pro-Palestine demonstrations and politically charged acceptance speeches tied to the Israel–Hamas war.
The meeting was convened by State Minister for Culture Wolfram Weimer to address incidents at this year’s festival in which artists expressed solidarity with Gaza and criticized festival leadership and the jury’s handling of the conflict. Afterward, Weimer’s office said talks between Tuttle and the supervisory board “over the Berlinale’s future direction will continue in the coming days.”
German tabloid Bild reported that Weimer planned to dismiss Tuttle, saying government and festival officials had agreed she should go amid political pressure following speeches at the Feb. 22 awards ceremony. Bild also pointed to a press photograph showing Tuttle with the team behind Abdallah Alkhatib’s Chronicles From the Siege—some of whom wore a keffiyeh and held a Palestinian flag—as alleged grounds for undermining her credibility with government backers.
Before the emergency meeting, more than 500 Berlinale employees signed a statement opposing her rumored dismissal, and over 700 German and international filmmakers signed an open letter defending Tuttle. The filmmakers warned that firing staff over individual statements or symbolic gestures would signal cultural institutions are bowing to political pressure and would chill artistic freedom.
Tuttle, in her second year as director, has defended the festival’s independence. She told DW that while the state has strategic oversight tied to funding, it does not issue editorial directives: “What we do, what we say, is entirely up to us,” she said.
The dispute follows two years of controversy for the Berlinale. Accusations of antisemitism surfaced during the 2024 edition and resurfaced this year as debates over artistic expression, political activism and state sensitivities intensified.
Much of the public debate centered on acceptance speeches. Jury president Wim Wenders drew criticism on social media after suggesting filmmakers should “stay out of politics,” but several winners used their moments onstage to make political statements. Ilker Catak, whose Yellow Letters won the Golden Bear, urged unity and warned filmmakers not to turn on each other but to confront “autocrats” and the rise of the right. His film, which depicts artists losing positions over political views, used Germany as a stand-in for censorship in other countries.
The most incendiary speech came from Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Alkhatib, who won Best First Feature for Chronicles From the Siege. As a refugee in Germany, Alkhatib said he had been warned not to cross “red lines,” then asked why Germany had “accepted to be partners of the genocide in Gaza by Israel,” and said Germans were “intelligent enough to recognize this, but you choose not to care.” Environment Minister Carsten Schneider, the only government minister at the ceremony, walked out during Alkhatib’s remarks and later called them “unacceptable.” Weimer condemned the comments as “malicious” and harmful to appreciation of film art.
The controversy is sharpened by Germany’s political stance: a longstanding, publicly declared commitment to Israel that many German officials justify as a historical responsibility stemming from the Holocaust. Critics, including human rights groups and a UN inquiry, have argued Israel’s campaign in Gaza amounts to crimes that some label genocide; Israel rejects that characterization, saying its actions are self-defense after the October 7 attacks.
The German government provides roughly 40% of Berlinale’s funding, and the festival has been navigating wider arts funding cuts while trying to safeguard state support. Pressure on cultural institutions has grown since 2024, when Berlin’s culture minister attempted to tie municipal funding to adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism—a proposal that was later dropped but that heightened tensions.
This year, open letters called on the Berlinale to take a clear stance against what signatories described as Israel’s crimes and to stop shielding Israel from criticism. At the same time, Israeli and Jewish community figures criticized Alkhatib’s speech as bigotry; the Israeli ambassador to Germany praised Schneider’s walkout and warned the festival risked becoming a platform for hostility toward Israel.
Festival director Tuttle and others have warned that the polarized climate pressures filmmakers and artists to speak on matters beyond their control, and that intrusive questioning can harm films and careers. Indian author Arundhati Roy boycotted the festival after Wenders’s “stay out of politics” remark, saying it shut down necessary debate about ongoing atrocities.
As polarized debates swirl, the Berlinale faces the question of whether it can continue to champion diverse and sometimes controversial voices while preserving state support and navigating political expectations.
Update: This article was first published on February 23 and updated after reports of Tuttle’s possible dismissal on February 25 and following the emergency meeting on February 26.