80 actors and directors criticize the silence of the Berlin festival regarding Gaza – Mehr News Agency | RCO News Agency

According to the Mehr news agency, citing the site of the extra-regional Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, the signatories of this statement declared that they were shocked by the “institutional silence of the Berlin festival” and expressed their displeasure with “complicity in censorship against artists who oppose Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”

This statement was published after the controversy that Wim Wenders, the head of the jury of the festival, created last week by answering a question about Gaza; He said “we should stay away from politics”.

British director Mike Lee and American filmmaker Adam McKay are among the other prominent signatories of this letter.

Many of the signatories have previously presented works at the Berlin festival, and Tilda Swinton won the festival’s prestigious “Golden Bear” award last year. In their statement, they emphasized that they strongly disagree with Wenders’ statements and consider it impossible to separate cinema from politics.

In the continuation of this letter, it is stated: The Berlin Festival must fulfill its moral duty and declare its clear opposition to the Israeli genocide.

The signatories also criticized not only the festival’s neutral stance towards the Gaza war, but also protested the central role of the German government in providing the basis for this situation.