“Cinema should stay away from politics,” says Wim Wenders

Arundhati Roy is one of India’s leading literary and critical voices

In a move that sparked widespread reaction in cultural and cinematic circles, Indian writer Arundhati Roy announced her withdrawal from the Berlin International Film Festival in protest over remarks made by the jury president, German director Wim Wenders, who said that cinema should “remain distant from politics” when asked about the war on Gaza.

In a statement sent to Agence France-Presse, Roy said she was “shocked and disgusted” by the answers given by the jury president and several jury members during a press conference held on Thursday, arguing that the remarks reflected a troubling understanding of the role of art in confronting major humanitarian issues.

Roy had been scheduled to attend the festival as a guest to present a restored version of the 1989 film In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, in which she starred and for which she wrote the screenplay. The screening was also meant to coincide with celebrations of her literary career, which gained global recognition after her novel The God of Small Things won the Booker Prize in 1997. However, she said that the statements calling for “neutralising art from politics” prompted her, with deep regret, to reconsider her participation.

During the same press conference, Wenders, responding to a question about Germany’s stance on the war, said that filmmakers should serve as a “counterweight to politics” and stressed the need to stay away from it.

Polish producer Ewa Puszczyńska, a member of the jury, said it was “somewhat unfair” to expect the jury to take a direct political position.

Roy, however, said in her statement that hearing claims that art should not be political was “astonishing,” adding that what is happening in Gaza amounts to “genocide against the Palestinian people,” and that history will not forget where artists stood at this critical moment.

Roy is widely regarded as one of the most prominent literary and critical voices in India. She is also known for her opposition to the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and for her public support of the Palestinian cause.

In a related development, the Berlin festival announced the withdrawal of restored versions of two films: A Song of Touha's Sadness by late Egyptian director Atyyat El Abnoudy, and The Taking of Amber by the late Sudanese director Hussein Shariffe.

Cimatheque – Alternative Film Centre in Cairo, together with the two directors’ families, said the decision came in response to a call by the Palestinian Film Institute to boycott the festival.

Festival organisers said on Friday evening that they respected the withdrawals and regretted the absence of the films, noting that their presence would have added significant artistic value to the programme.

This is not the first time the festival has been embroiled in controversy linked to the war on Gaza. In 2024, the documentary No Other Land, which addresses the displacement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, won an award, prompting criticism from German officials over what were described as “one-sided” statements made by the filmmakers during the awards ceremony.

The war erupted after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,221 people according to official Israeli figures. In response, Israeli military operations in Gaza have killed more than 71,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry—figures the United Nations considers credible.