Arundhati Roy boycotts Berlinale 2026 in solidarity with Gaza
Author Arundhati Roy has pulled out of the 76th annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, following the comments reportedly made by members of the festival jury regarding Gaza, Palestine
Author Arundhati Roy has pulled out of the 76th annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, following the comments reportedly made by members of the festival jury regarding Gaza, Palestine.
Arundhati Roy described the situation in Gaza as genocide and criticized Germany and the United States for complicity.
“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 said in a statement released Friday.
Berlinale 2026 which opened on February 12 and will continue till February 22, 2026 has included In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones for screening. Annie was written by Arundhati Roy around 38 years, and Roy had planned to attend the Berlin film festival for the screening of the film.
“If the greatest film makers and artists of our time cannot stand up and say so, they should know that history will judge them. I am shocked and disgusted… With deep regret, I must say that I will not be attending the Berlinale”, she added.
How the controversy began?
The controversy started after Video Journalist, Tilo Jung, asked the jury a question about selective solidarity of the film festival with the people of Iran and Ukraine vs. Palestinians.
To this, Jury President, Wim Wenders said, “We have to stay out of politics”, Tilo Jung wrote on X while tagging the video clip of the whole conversation.
In contrast to the jury’s views, some authors, activists and artists used the event to highlight, what they call rights violation in Iran.
According to Euro News, author and journalist Düzen Tekkal together with Banafshe Hourmazdi, Jasmin Tabatabei and Pheline Roggan, held up posters reading "Free Iran" and "Rojava in my Heart".
Also, German Green Party politician Karin Göring Eckardt displayed the message "Remembrance is not a violation" written on her hand. These words are part of a controversial Ukrainian campaign at the Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina.
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