{"id":29883,"date":"2026-02-28T05:29:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T05:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=29883"},"modified":"2026-02-28T05:29:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T05:29:03","slug":"hundreds-of-film-makers-back-berlinale-director-in-row-over-winners-gaza-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=29883","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of film-makers back Berlinale director in row over winners\u2019 Gaza comments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tilda Swinton among those to sign petition supporting Tricia Tuttle, who reportedly faces sack after pro-Palestine speeches at gala<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prominent directors and actors have rallied in support of the American head of the Berlin film festival<\/a> in response to reports she could be sacked over comments by award-winners criticising the war in Gaza and the German government\u2019s support for Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany\u2019s federal government commissioner for culture and media, Wolfram Weimer, convened a crisis meeting on Thursday on the \u201cfuture direction of the Berlinale\u201d, which is among Europe\u2019s top three cinema showcases with Cannes and Venice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weimer\u2019s office said after the talks that \u201cdiscussions about the direction of the Berlinale will continue in the coming days\u201d between the festival chief, Tricia Tuttle, and the event\u2019s supervisory board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newspaper Bild had reported that Thursday\u2019s meeting could result in the\u00a0firing of Tuttle<\/a>, the US director of the festival since 2024, after controversy over pro-Palestinian speeches at Saturday\u2019s closing gala, one of which criticized Germany as \u201cpartners in the genocide\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bild cited sources close to Weimer as saying that the acceptance speech<\/a> by the Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah al-Khatib, who won the best first feature award for his drama Chronicles From the Siege, and a picture taken a week earlier that showed Tuttle with al-Khatib\u2019s film team had caused particular offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photograph showed several members of al-Khatib\u2019s team wearing keffiyeh scarves and one holding a Palestinian flag. The Berlinale director commonly takes pictures with the film crews during the festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Abdallah<\/a>
Abdallah al-Khatib (left) and Taqiyeddine Issaad holding a Palestinian flag after receiving the GWFF best first feature award for Chronicles From the Siege. Photograph: Ebrahim Noroozi\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The report prompted an outpouring of solidarity with Tuttle, who previously helmed the BFI London film festival, and stark warnings about free speech and artistic liberty in German society in the face of \u201cintimidation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 700 film-makers signed a petition backing Tuttle. They included the Oscar winners Tilda Swinton and Todd Haynes, both previous Berlinale jury presidents, the directors Sean Baker and Kleber Mendon\u00e7a Filho, and the Israeli film-makers Oren Moverman and Ari Folman, as well as Germany\u2019s Ilker \u00c7atak, whose drama about creeping authoritarianism won this year\u2019s Golden Bear top prize<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf an extraordinary meeting is convened to decide the future of the festival\u2019s leadership, more is at stake than a single appointment,\u201d said the petition, published in the trade magazine Variety<\/a>. \u201cWhat is at issue is the relationship between artistic freedom and institutional independence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said the Berlinale, now in its 76th year, \u201chas always been political \u2013 not party-political, but socially engaged\u201d. It continued: \u201cEspecially in times of global crisis, we need spaces capable of sustaining disagreement. The independence of cultural institutions safeguards not only artistic freedom, but the vitality of democratic discourse itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf every controversy leads to institutional repercussions, discourse gives way to control. We stand for a culture of exchange, not intimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Berlin chapter of the writers\u2019 association PEN International also expressed dismay at the prospect that Tuttle could be ousted or pressed to resign, in a statement before Thursday\u2019s crisis talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said al-Khatib\u2019s statements were \u201cprotected by freedom of expression \u2013 just as wearing the keffiyeh and displaying the Palestinian flag are, of course\u201d, and that Tuttle should bear no blame for the statements of festival participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are certain that the Berlinale, as an internationally relevant festival, would suffer immense damage\u201d if Tuttle were to go now, PEN Berlin said in a statement. \u201cSuch wanton destruction of the German cultural scene, such self-inflicted provincialisation, must not be allowed to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several Israeli cinema institutions, including the Jerusalem and Haifa film festivals, also voiced their support<\/a> for Tuttle, praising her \u201ccommitment to diversity of voices, non-censorship and creating a space of open debate to all voices\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, more than 500 Berlinale staff members signed an open letter<\/a> applauding her \u201cclarity, integrity, and artistic vision\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the start of her tenure, Tuttle has faced friction over the war in Gaza<\/a>, with a diverse scene of international artists pitted against a vocal pro-Israel consensus among the German political authorities that steer the Berlinale\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She admitted during the ceremony that this year\u2019s edition had been rocky and \u201cemotional\u201d. On opening day, the jury, led by the veteran German director Wim Wenders, encountered pointed questions<\/a> at a news conference about their views on Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wim<\/a>
Wim Wenders on the red carpet before the awards ceremony on Saturday. Photograph: Axel Schmidt\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wenders rejected the notion that film-makers and cultural institutions must actively take political stances, spurring a firestorm of protest online and in the artistic community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Indian author Arundhati Roy cancelled an appearance<\/a> and more than 80 active or former Berlinale participants signed an open letter condemning Wenders\u2019 remarks. \u201cWe are dismayed at the Berlinale\u2019s involvement in censoring artists who oppose Israel\u2019s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the German state\u2019s key role in enabling it,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuttle forcefully denied these charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wenders and Tuttle both attempted to clarify their position at the awards ceremony<\/a>, with Wenders calling out an \u201cartificial discrepancy\u201d between art and activism, stoked by social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cActivists are fighting mainly on the internet for humanitarian causes, namely the dignity and protection of human life,\u201d Wenders said. \u201cThese are our causes as well, as the Berlinale films clearly show.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference Link:- https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2026\/feb\/26\/film-makers-petition-berlinale-director-tricia-tuttle-award-winners-gaza-comments<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tilda Swinton among those to sign petition supporting Tricia Tuttle, who reportedly faces sack after pro-Palestine speeches at gala Prominent directors and actors have rallied in support of the American head of the Berlin film festival in response to reports she could be sacked over comments by award-winners criticising the war in Gaza and the German government\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[27431,27432,24055,27433,1947,27434,16246,1510,8847,4935],"class_list":["post-29883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sample-category","tag-berlinale-director","tag-film-festival-2","tag-film-industry-3","tag-film-makers","tag-gaza-genocide-2","tag-gaza-comments","tag-germany-4","tag-israel-2","tag-netanyahu-3","tag-war-crimes-2","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29885,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29883\/revisions\/29885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}