Arundhati Roy boycotts Berlinale over jury's stance on Gaza
Author and activist Arundhati Roy has announced that she will not attend the 2026 edition of the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) over the jury president Wim Wenders' stance on Palestine and Gaza.
In a statement shared on The Wire, Roy said she was “shocked” by comments reportedly made by members of the festival jury regarding Gaza, particularly the suggestion that art should not be political. Roy described the situation in Gaza as a genocide and criticised Germany and the United States for what she termed their complicity.
“The idea that art should not be political, at a time like this, is itself a deeply political position,” Roy said in her statement.
Roy, who had been planning to attend a screening of her recently restored 1989 film In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones, called the comments “unconscionable”.
Comments from the Jury President and a member came after a journalist asked about why Palestine is not shown the same solidarity as Berlinale has shown to the people of Iran and Ukraine. Tilo Jung also questioned the jury about the complicity of the German government, which funds the film festival.
Germany faces a genocide case in the International Court of Justice over its weapon sales to Israel despite the slaying of thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza.
“Let me say this clearly: what has happened in Gaza, what continues to happen, is a genocide of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel. It is supported and funded by the governments of the United States and Germany, as well as several other countries in Europe, which makes them complicit in the crime,” Roy wrote.
Her decision comes amid wider debate within European cultural institutions over the role of art and artists in addressing ongoing violence in Gaza. The Berlin International Film Festival has long positioned itself as one of the most politically engaged major film festivals in the world.
