At the closing gala of the Berlinale on Saturday evening there was a scandal: American director Ben Russell spoke on stage about a “genocide” in the Gaza Strip and demonstratively wore a Palestinian scarf. Other award winners also positioned themselves as critical of Israel, without addressing Hamas’ terror. Her words were partly applauded by the audience, but there was no classification by the Berlinale moderator. The incidents are spreading widely.
On Sunday, Jewish filmmakers spontaneously gathered in front of the Zoo Palast to demonstrate against the Berlinale. And there were also clear words from politicians. Berlin’s governing mayor Kai Wegner condemned the events on “X” (formerly “Twitter”): “What happened yesterday at the Berlinale was an intolerable relativization. Anti-Semitism has no place in Berlin, and that also applies to the art scene. I expect the new management of the Berlinale to ensure that such incidents do not happen again.”
The CDU’s cultural policy spokesman in the Berlin House of Representatives, Robbin Juhnke, told broadcaster rbb when asked that the Berlinale had caused damage. The anti-Israel attacks were shameful. “It is simply disgusting and a perfidious perpetrator-victim reversal. Such appearances are unbearable,” wrote Green Party politician Konstantin von Notz on “X”.
The Israeli ambassador strongly criticized the German cultural scene on “X”: “You don’t need a doctorate to understand that this is a scandalous anti-Semitic discourse,” wrote Ron Prosor. The silence about this is deafening. An Instagram post also caused a stir: images with anti-Semitic content briefly appeared on the Instagram account of the Berlinale “Panorama” section. They were deleted and the Berlinale management filed a complaint against unknown persons.
The whole thing was also picked up in the press: the “Bild” newspaper commented “This Berlinale is embarrassing Germany,” while the “Welt” found itself “in the wrong film.” And star author David Baum asked in view of the incidents: “What’s wrong with this cultural industry?” You can read his text here.
The Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth has meanwhile announced an investigation into the incidents. “Together with the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, and the Berlin Senate, who share responsibility for the Berlinale with us, we will now deal with the events at the Bear Awards,” said the Green politician, according to dpa. It should be examined whether the Berlinale has lived up to its claim to be a place for diversity, different perspectives and dialogue or not.
