Indian author Arundhati Roy has withdrawn from the Berlin International Film Festival, also known as the Berlinale, after criticizing remarks made by members of the festival’s jury about the war in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera News.
Roy, best known for her Booker Prize–winning novel The God of Small Things, said she was “shocked and disgusted” by comments suggesting that art should remain separate from politics. Writing in The Wire, an Indian news outlet, she described the jury’s statements as “unconscionable” and said they attempted to silence discussion about what she called a crime against humanity.
The controversy began during a panel discussion launching the festival. When asked about Germany’s support for Israel’s military actions in Gaza, jury chair Wim Wenders responded that filmmakers “have to stay out of politics.” He argued that artists serve as a counterweight to politics and should focus on people rather than political agendas. Another jury member, Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska, said it was unfair to expect filmmakers to answer for government policies.
Roy strongly disagreed. She stated that artists, writers, and filmmakers have a responsibility to speak out during times of violence and injustice. She described the events in Gaza as genocide and accused several Western governments, including Germany and the United States, of being complicit through their support of Israel.
Roy had been scheduled to attend the festival, which runs from February 12 to 22, for a screening of her 1989 film, In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, selected for the Classics section. Her decision to withdraw adds to growing tension within Germany’s cultural scene, where artists have accused institutions of limiting expressions of solidarity with Palestinians.
In her statement, Roy made her position clear: silence, she believes, is not neutrality.
