Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy has withdrawn from the 2026 edition of the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), citing what she described as “unconscionable statements” by members of the festival’s international jury on the war in Gaza.
Arundhati Roy, whose 1989 campus comedy “In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones” was scheduled to be screened in the festival’s Classics section, announced her decision in a statement on Friday, according to The Wire,
The controversy erupted on the festival’s opening day after jury president Wim Wenders and fellow juror Ewa Puszczyńska were fielded questions about the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Germany’s support for Israel. Germany is a key public funder of the festival.
Earlier on Feb. 12, Variety Magazine reported that Wim Wenders, president of the Berlinale 2026 jury, said filmmakers should “stay out of politics” when asked about Gaza and Germany’s support for Israel.”
Responding to repeated questions about politics and cinema, Wenders said at a press conference: “We have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics. But we are the counterweight of politics, we are the opposite of politics. We have to do the work of people, not the work of politicians.”
Puszczyńska added: “There are many other wars where genocide is committed, and we do not talk about that. So this is a very complicated question and I think it’s a bit unfair asking us what do you think, how we support, not support, talking to our governments or not.”
Arundhati’s Roy Full Statement:
In her withdrawal note, Roy wrote:
“‘In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones,’ a whimsical film that I wrote 38 years ago, was selected to be screened under the Classics section at the Berlinale 2026. There was something sweet and wonderful about this for me. Although I have been profoundly disturbed by the positions taken by the German government and various German cultural institutions on Palestine, I have always received political solidarity when I have spoken to German audiences about my views on the genocide in Gaza.
This is what made it possible for me to think of attending the screening of Annie at the Berlinale.
This morning, like millions of people across the world, I heard the unconscionable statements made by members of the jury of the Berlin film festival when they were asked to comment about the genocide in Gaza. To hear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping. It is a way of shutting down a conversation about a crime against humanity even as it unfolds before us in real time — when artists, writers and film makers should be doing everything in their power to stop it.
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.
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.”
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Berlinale organisers have not yet issued an official response. Variety reported that it had reached out to the festival for comment.
Among those backing Roy’s decision was Scottish historian and Jaipur Literature Festival co-director William Dalrymple, who posted on X: “Proud of my old friend. That’s how you do it.”
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