Arundhati Roy would have attended the Berlin Film Festival as the screenwriter of the film “In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones” (1989), which is shown in the festival’s classic program.
But now Roy has decided to withdraw his participation, writes Variety. The author, in a written commentary in India’s The Wire, refers to “the unreasonable statements” made by some festival jury members regarding Gaza.
At a press conference on the opening day of the festival, jury chief Wim Wenders advocated, among other things, that the film world should stay away from politics.
The film festival welcomes When the jury asked questions about Gaza and the federal government’s support for Israel, juror Ewa Puszczyńska pointed out that “there are many other wars in which genocide is committed and we don’t talk about it.” She continued: “This is a very complicated topic and I think it’s a bit unfair to ask us what we think.”
The statements met with criticism from several quarters. Arundhati Roy writes that she found it “astonishing” to hear the jury say that art should not be political: “It is a way to silence discussion about a crime against humanity.”
Arundhati Roy has published numerous books, including The God of Small Things (1998) and My Shelter and My Storm (2025).
The Berlin Film Festival takes place from February 12th to 22nd.
Read more about the Berlin Film Festival:
Stardom and strong female roles at this year’s Berlin Festival
Kim Ekberg: “I want to make a Svenden experimental film for the whole people”
