NEW DELHI, FEB 14: Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy has withdrawn from the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), citing “unconscionable statements” by jury members dismissing politics in art amid Israel’s ongoing actions in Gaza, which she labeled a genocide.
Roy was set to attend the Classics section screening of her 1989 satirical film “In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones,” written by her and directed by Pradeep Krishen. In a statement published by The Wire on Friday, she expressed shock at the jury’s response to questions on Gaza during a pre-festival press conference.
Jury president Wim Wenders, alongside members like Reinaldo Marcus Green, Hikari, Min Bahadur Bham, Bae Doona, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, and Ewa Puszczyńska, faced queries on Germany’s Gaza stance. Wenders insisted filmmakers must “stay out of politics,” calling art a “counterweight” to it. Puszczyńska deemed the question “unfair,” noting other global conflicts and rejecting direct responsibility for viewer views on Israel-Palestine.
Roy fired back: “To hear the jury 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 should be doing everything to stop it.”
Roy unequivocally stated: “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… making them complicit in the crime.” She warned that history would judge silent filmmakers harshly, adding profound regret over skipping the screening—despite past solidarity from German audiences contrasting official stances.
The 64-year-old author had hoped to celebrate the film’s Berlinale slot as “sweet and wonderful,” but the jury’s comments proved the final straw in her protest against perceived cultural complicity.
