Javier Bardem, Tilda Swinton Alia Shawkat and Adam McKay Among 81 Names to Sign Open Letter Criticizing Berlin Film Festival for ‘Silence’ on Gaza: ‘We Are Dismayed’

Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Alia Shawkat and more than 80 entertainment figures, who are past and present participants of the Berlinale, have come together in an open letter slamming the Berlin Film Festival Berlinale over its “silence” on Gaza.

via: Variety

More than 80 current and former participants of the Berlinale have signed an open letter to the festival condemning what it claims has been its “silence” when it comes to the conflict in Gaza and the “censoring” of artists who have spoken out.

Actors Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Angeliki Papoulia, Saleh Bakri, Tatiana Maslany, Peter Mullan and Tobias Menzies, as well as directors Mike Leigh, Lukas Dhont, Nan Goldin, Miguel Gomes, Adam McKay and Avi Mograbi are among the signatories of the letter, which says they “expect the institutions in our industry to refuse complicity in the terrible violence that continues to be waged against Palestinians.”

The letter lands the middle of the 2026 edition of the Berlinale in which the topics of politics has become a central theme, most notably following comments by jury head Wim Wenders in the opening press conference. When asked about Gaza and the support the German government — which funds much of the festival — has shown for Israel, he said “we should stay out of politics” and claimed that filmmaking was “the opposite of politics.” The uproar that followed prompted festival head Tricia Tuttle to put a statement in which she said: “Artists should not be expected to comment on all broader debates about a festival’s previous or current practices over which they have no control.”

In the open letter, the signatories assert that they “fervently disagree” with Wenders views on filmmaking and politics. “You cannot separate one from the other,” they say, adding that the “tide is changing across the international film world,” citing the refusal of more than 5,000 film workers, including several major Hollywood names, to work with “complicit Israeli film companies and institutions.”

The letter notes that the Berlinale has made “clear statements” in the past about “atrocities” carried out against people in Iran and Ukraine.

“We call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel’s genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Palestinians, and completely end its involvement in shielding Israel from criticism and calls for accountability,” it concludes.

See the full letter and list of signatories below.

Open Letter to the Berlinale — Feb. 17, 2026

We write as film workers, all of us past and current Berlinale participants, who expect the institutions in our industry to refuse complicity in the terrible violence that continues to be waged against Palestinians. We are dismayed at the Berlinale’s involvement in censoring artists who oppose Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the German state’s key role in enabling it. As the Palestine Film Institute has stated, the festival has been “policing filmmakers alongside a continued commitment to collaborate with Federal Police on their investigations”.

Last year, filmmakers who spoke out for Palestinian life and liberty from the Berlinale stage reported being aggressively reprimanded by senior festival programmers. One filmmaker was reported ​t​o have been investigated by police, and Berlinale leadership falsely implied that ​t​he filmmaker’s moving speech – rooted in international law and solidarity – was “discriminatory”. As another filmmaker told Film Workers for Palestine​ about last year’s festival: “there was a feeling of paranoia in the air, of not being protected and of being persecuted, which I had never felt before at a film festival”. We stand with our colleagues in rejecting this institutional repression and anti-Palestinian racism.

We fervently disagree with ​the statement made by Berlinale​ 2026 jury president Wim Wenders​ that filmmaking is “the opposite of politics”​. You cannot separate one from the other. We are deeply concerned that the German state-funded Berlinale is helping put into practice what Irene Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion recently condemned as Germany’s misuse of draconian legislation “to restrict advocacy for Palestinian rights, chilling public participation and shrinking discourse in academia and the arts”​. This is also what Ai Weiwei recently described​ as Germany “doing what they did in the 1930s”​ (agreeing with his interviewer who suggested to him that “it’s the same fascist impulse, just a different target​”). All of this at a time when we are learning horrifying new details about the 2,842 Palestinians “evaporated” by Israeli forces using internationally prohibited, U.S.-made thermal and thermobaric weapons. Despite abundant evidence of Israel’s genocidal intent, systematic atrocity crimes and ethnic cleansing, Germany continues to supply Israel with weapons used to exterminate Palestinians in Gaza.

The tide is changing across the international film world. Many international film festivals have endorsed the cultural boycott of apartheid Israel, including the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, the world’s biggest, as well as BlackStar Film Festival in the U.S., and Film Fest Gent, Belgium’s largest. More than 5,000 film workers, including leading Hollywood and international figures, have also announced their refusal to work with complicit Israeli film companies and institutions.

Yet Berlinale has so far not even met the demands of its community to issue a statement that affirms the Palestinian right to life, dignity, and freedom; condemns the ongoing Israeli genocide of Palestinians; and commits to uphold the right of artists to speak without constraint in support of Palestinian human rights. This is the least it can – and should – do.

As the Palestine Film Institute has said, “we are appalled by Berlinale’s institutional silence on the genocide of Palestinians, and its unwillingness to defend the freedoms of speech and expression of filmmakers”. Just as ​t​he festival has ​m​ade clear statements ​in the past about atrocities ​carried out against​ people in Iran and Ukrain​e, we call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel’s genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Palestinians, and completely end its involvement in shielding Israel from criticism and calls for accountability.

Signed by

Adam McKay

Adèle Haenel

Alan O’Gorman

Alexandra Juhasz

Alexandre Koberidze

Alia Shawkat

Alison Oliver

Alkis Papastathopoulos

Ana Naomi de Sousa

Angeliki Papoulia

Antigoni Rota

Ariane Labed

Artemis Anastasiadou

Ashley McKenzie

Avi Mograbi

Bahija Essoussi

Ben Russell

Bingham Bryant

Blake Williams

Blanche Gardin

Brett Story

Brian Cox

Camilo Restrepo

Carice Van Houten

Charlie Shackleton

Cherien Dabis

Christopher Young

Dali Benssalah

David Osit

Deragh Campbell

Dustin Defa

Eleni Alexandrakis

Elhum Shakerifar

Emilie Deleuze

Eyal Sivan

Fernando Meirelles

Fil Ieropoulos

Geoff Arbourne

Hany Abu Assad

Hind Meddeb

James Benning

Javier Bardem

John Greyson

Jon Jost

Khalid Abdalla

Leah Borromeo

Lukas Dhont

Mahdi Fleifel

Mai Masri

Malika Zouhali-Worrall

Manuel Embalse

Marina Gioti

Marion Schmidt

Merawi Gerima

Miguel Gomes

Mike Leigh

Miranda Pennell

Namir Abdel Messeeh

Nan Goldin

Narimane Mari

Nina Menkes

Pascale Ramonda

Patricia Mazuy

Paul Laverty

Pedro Pimenta

Peter Mullan

Phaedra Vokali

Robert Greene

Saeed Taji Farouky

Saleh Bakri

Samaher Alqadi

Sarah Friedland

Sepideh Farsi

Shirin Neshat

Smaro Papaevangelou

Sofia Georgovassili

Tatiana Maslany

Thodoris Dimitropoulos

Tilda Swinton

Tobias Menzies

Tyler Taormina