After several filmmakers made statements about the Middle East war at the Berlinale Gala, Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) has strongly criticized the event. "What happened yesterday at the Berlinale was an unacceptable relativization. There is no place for anti-Semitism in Berlin, and that also applies to the art scene," he wrote on Sunday on the platform X, formerly Twitter. Wegner, who was in the audience himself on Saturday evening, expects the new Berlinale management to ensure that "such incidents" do not happen again.
During the award ceremony on Saturday evening, several award winners made statements about the Gaza war that were met with criticism. According to critics, it was particularly striking that the participants on stage made one-sided accusations against Israel without mentioning the terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas on October 7, 2023.
At the beginning of the gala, the co-head of the Berlinale, Mariette Rissenbeek, made it clear that there was no place for "incitement, anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim hatred and any form of discrimination" at the Berlinale. She described the Gaza war as a "humanitarian catastrophe". "We call on Hamas to release the hostages immediately and we call on Israel to do everything possible to protect the civilian population in Gaza and to ensure that lasting peace can return to the region. The fighting must stop."
On Sunday, the Berlinale also distanced itself from an anti-Israel Instagram post on the Middle East conflict, which had previously been published on an account of the Berlinale Panorama series. "These posts are not from the festival and do not represent the position of the Berlinale," the Berlinale announced in its Instagram story on Sunday evening. "We deleted them immediately and initiated an investigation into how this incident could have occurred." The film festival announced that it would file a criminal complaint against unknown persons.
Screenshots from the account of the Panorama section of the Berlinale circulated on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday. One photo showed the slogan "Free Palestine - From the River to the Sea". The phrase means that there should be a free Palestine on an area from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea - where Israel is now located.
Protest note on the stage
At the gala, which was characterized by political messages, a documentary film won the most important prize, the Golden Bear, for the second time in a row on Saturday evening: The film "Dahomey" by French-born director Mati Diop deals with the restitution of looted art.
In other ways, the Berlinale was also particularly characterized by political debates this year. Many filmmakers had already protested against right-wing extremism at the opening gala. Others called for an end to the fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. At the awards ceremony, several people on stage carried a piece of paper with the inscription "Ceasefire Now".
Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra called on Germany to stop supplying weapons to Israel. In response, the President of the German-Israeli Society, Volker Beck (Green Party), criticized on the platform X (formerly Twitter) that this appearance had been applauded and remained uncommented on. This was "a cultural, intellectual and ethical low point" of the Berlinale, wrote Beck.
Adra had made the documentary "No Other Land" with three other filmmakers and won the Documentary Film Award for it. The film is about the displacement of Palestinians in villages south of Hebron in the West Bank.
Sharsh criticism also came from Green politician Konstantin von Notz after - elsewhere at the Berlinale Gala - filmmaker Ben Russell spoke of "genocide" in connection with the Gaza war. "It is simply disgusting and a perfidious perpetrator-victim reversal. Such performances are intolerable, wrote von Notz at X.
The day after the award ceremony, Berlin's Senator for Culture Joe Chialo also had strong words: "Culture should offer space for diverse political expressions of opinion, but this year's Berlinale award ceremony was characterized by self-righteous anti-Israeli propaganda that does not belong on Berlin's stages," the CDU politician wrote at X on Sunday. It is to be hoped that the festival management will consistently deal with the incidents.
Actor Lars Eidinger said after the award ceremony that he could "hardly remember times that were so political". But it would be "fatal to completely ignore or exclude that for an event like this", said Eidinger. The Berlinale has always been regarded as the most political of the world's largest film festivals.
Golden Bear for film about the return of art objects
In the film "Dahomey", which won this year's Golden Bear, director Diop, who has Senegalese roots, deals with art treasures that were stolen from the West African country of Benin - then Dahomey - in 1892. She follows 26 statues on their journey from France to their country of origin. In total, thousands of works of art were stolen around 130 years ago and are still in France today.
The experimental documentary captivates with poetic passages - for example, one of the works of art speaks off-screen several times. One part of the film shows a discussion in Benin among predominantly young people. They argue about whether the restitution should be seen as progress or as post-colonial arrogance. Current problems in the country such as poverty and the lack of education are also discussed.
People dream of my film: award winner Matthias Glasner
Several Silver Bears were also awarded. One went to German director Matthias Glasner for the screenplay of his emotionally charged drama "Dying". In the film starring Corinna Harfouch and Lars Eidinger, the director dealt with the complex relationship with his family. Glasner was worried that the drama might be too personal. But: "I really have been stopped every few meters for days by people who say: "Great film, it touched me so much, I'm dreaming about it," Glasner told the German Press Agency on Saturday evening. And: "It was somehow worth it, that when you open yourself up so much, others open up too."
"I don't understand what you see in my film" - veteran director Hong Sangsoo
The Grand Jury Prize went to the melancholy comedy "Yeohaengjaui pilyo" ("A Traveler's Needs") by veteran South Korean director Hong Sangsoo, starring Isabelle Huppert. "I don't understand what you see in my movie," Sangsoo said visibly modestly to the jury on stage.
Romanian-American actor Sebastian Stan was named Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in the tragicomedy "A Different Man". The British actress Emily Watson received the award for best supporting role in "Small Things Like These". The 57-year-old came on stage with a crutch due to a broken foot.
Frenchman Bruno Dumont received the Jury Prize for the sci-fi parody "L'Empire". The Silver Bear for Best Director went to Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias for "Pepe", an experimental film about a dead hippopotamus in Colombia. Austrian cinematographer Martin Gschlacht was honored for his outstanding artistic achievement in the historical drama "The Devil's Bath".
New Berlinale leadership from April
This was the fifth and last Berlinale for the directorial duo Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian. Tricia Tuttle will take over in April. The US-American sat beaming in the audience at the award ceremony. The festival ended on Sunday with an audience day.
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