Indian author pulls out of Berlinale over jury’s ‘unconscionable’ refusal to comment on Gaza

A famous Indian human rights advocate has pulled out of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival over the Berlinale jury’s "unconscionable" refusal to comment on the Israeli regime forces' ongoing genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Architect, author and human rights activist Arundhati Roy on Friday said that she will not be attending the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival.

As the jury's presser kicked off at the opening ceremony of the Berlin International Film Festival on Thursday, political journalist Tilo Jung acknowledged the German government’s “support” for the Israeli regime's decades-long war against Palestine and “its role as main funder” of “the genocide in Gaza.”

Jung asked Berlinale's international jury why, in spite of its former political leanings in past years, it does not take a stand on the Gaza genocide, which has left more than 72,000 Palestinians dead, and whether it supported the selective treatment of human rights.

Jury president Wim Wenders responded to Jung's question, saying the Berlinale must "stay out of politics."

Wenders, a filmmaker, tried to steer away from commenting on the Gaza genocide by saying, "We have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics."

He said, "We are the counterweight of politics, the opposite of politics, we have to do the work of people — not the work of politicians."

In protest to the controversial remarks made by Wenders, as well as other jury members who had similar apathetic views at the presser, Roy, who is a prize-winning author, announced that she would boycott the festival.

Roy, who was due to present her 1989 campus comedy “In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones” as part of the Classics section, said she will boycott the event due to the “unconscionable statements” made by members of the jury.

“This morning, like millions of people across the world, I heard the unconscionable statements made by members of the jury of the Berlin film festival when they were asked to comment about the genocide in Gaza,” she said in an open letter in protest to the comments that were made by the Berlinale's jury.

Roy said at first she had felt “something sweet and wonderful” when she was invited to the Berlin International Film Festival.

"To hear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping," Roy pointed out.

“It is a way of shutting down a conversation about a crime against humanity even as it unfolds before us in real time — when artists, writers and filmmakers should be doing everything in their power to stop it,” she added.

The 10-day Berlin International Film Festival, also referred to as the Berlinale, kicked off in Berlin with films from 28 countries.

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