The reason why I write this open letter is dual. Firstly, I hope it reaches the Festival Director Tricia Tuttle and German politicians alike, and helps them to reflect on the recent directions that the event was taken. Secondly, because I owe industry professionals who decided to boycott the event this year (those who opted to adhere to the Berlinale Strike) and our readers an explanation: why is it that DMovies decided to attend an event that overtly censors its own artists?

Firstly, please allow me to explain my deep professional and emotional connection to the largest film festival of Germany.

This is my 13th Berlinale. This is the film festival that I have attended the most in my life. An event that became an integral part of my existence 20 years ago, when I still wrote in Portuguese for the Brazilian media, and long before I founded DMovies. I lived in Germany 25 years ago, and have very good command over the language of Goethe. My affiliation to the Berlinale is such that this was indeed the very first event that this organisation covered nine years ago, when it was launched in February 2016. The Berlin Film Festival is also one of the few festivals ballsy enough to pick a pornographic feature for one of their main strands, and hence the place where we world premiered my penultimate film, The Visitor. Just last year, this hyperpolitical and sexually explicit modern-day fable helped to stir up the Panorama section. The film was directed by Bruce LaBruce, while I produced and co-wrote it.

And this isn’t just about my personal story with the Fest. Since 1951 (when the Festival opened with no less than Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca, the British director’s first American film), the Berlinale has been shedding light on the German capital during winter. It helped to lift the city up from post-war destruction and gloom. It has since grown to become one of the Top 3 film festivals of Europe (alongside Cannes and Venice), and Top 5 in the world (add Toronto and Sundance to the list). It helped to catapult varied people to the international spotlight, ranging from Werner Herzog (his first film Signs of Life premiered there, in 1968), Brazilian Walter Salles (Golden Bear for Central Station, 1998) to now-familiar Hollywood household names such as Todd Haynes (Teddy Award for Poison, in 1991) and Paul Thomas Anderson (Golden Bear for Magnolia, 2000). many famous actors started there, too: an unknown Tilda Swindon won the Silver Bear in 1986, for her performance in Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio. This is also the only major festival that ever gave Rainer Werner Fassbinder its top prize (Golden Bear for Veronika Voss, in 1982). Most importantly, this is an event that never shied away from being openly political (something they indeed boasted from their very first year). Queer, pro-immigration, anti-racist, anti-war and anti-fascist films and statements have always been prominent at the event.

This is why writing this letter does not feel like an acidic reprimand at all. Instead it feels like talking to a much-loved old friend – someone who shares some very dear values with you – about a mistake they made. A very grave mistake.

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Free speech and censorship

It was with shock and consternation that I read this Festival statement last year, The Berlinale threatened those who denounced the Genocide of Palestinians on their website with legal action. It went further. Then-Executive Director Mariëtte Rissenbeek “condemned the murderous attack by Hamas on October 7, called for the release of the hostages and remembered the suffering of all victims of the violence in Israel and Gaza”. The bias and insincerity of this sentence are as bright as the lights on the red carpet. The Director described the Hamas attacks that claimed roughly 1,200 lives as “murderous”, while failing to qualify the mass murder of Palestinians (which stood at roughly 20,000 at the time, and more than 60,000 at present). It mentions the suffering of Palestinians in the passive voice, as if some sort of unfortunate curse had befallen them. It ommits that the atrocities are carried out by Israel. It mentions the hostages, namely the Israelis held by Hamas (which stood at roughly 200 at the time). The Palestinians hostages held by Israel (roughly 10,000 at the time) are of little concern. This is no frivolous presumption. The “release the hostages” (“die Geiseln freilassen”) narrative widespread in Germany and most of Europe is almost entirely focused on Israelis, with names and pictures of these people widespread on the walls and the mainstream media. Palestinian names, stores and lives barely matter.

Rissenbeek’s words on the press release represent a barbaric attack on free speech. Without mentioning names, she openly chastises the Festival’s own award winners – including Golden Bear winner Mati Diop, international filmmakers Juliana Rojas, Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau, and even Jewish American director Eliza Hittman – for simply expressing their solidarity with Palestine. She wrote: “from our point of view, it would have been appropriate in terms of content if the award winners and guests at the Award Ceremony had also made more differentiated statements on this issue”. Perhaps not coincidentally, in the introductory press release for the 2024 Berlinale (which is no longer available online), the event opted not to mention freedom of speech amongst their core values, despite having done so in the previous years.

The absurdity of the events culminated with the pathetically surreal “apology” of Culture Minister Claudia Roth, following the Berlinale’s closing ceremony. She – who had vigorously denounced Hamas and “anti-semitism” in the opening of the Festival two weeks earlier (pictured above) – apologised for clapping for the two directors of No Other Land (Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor; picture at the top of this article is a film still),. which received the prize for Best Documentary. The film reveals the Israeli occupation tactics in the West Bank. Palestinian Adra and Israeli Abraham took to stage in order to accept the award. Roth was criticised for applauding such a film. Her response? She claimed that she only applauded the Israeli filmmaker but not the Palestinian one. Holy Moses! That’s despite the fact that both men share the same critical views of the occupation. I hope that such dialectical acrobatics remain unparalleled in the history of film and German politics.

The Berlinale’s approach to the Middle East stands in stark contrast to the organisation’s stance on Ukraine. The double standards are glaring. Last year, the event was splashed in yellow and blue, the colours of the country’s flag, and criticism of Putin wasn’t just tolerated but also highly encouraged. On the other hand, the recognition of Israeli occupation of Palestine and the genocide of Palestinians is immediately branded as “anti-semitic”. That’s despite the UN consistent recognition of Israel’s countless was crimes, the ICC’s and the ICJ’s rulings against both the Israeli state and its Prime Minister.

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Kiss and make up?

My decision to attend the 75th Berlin International Film Festival has nothing to do with complacence. Last year, I made my criticism of the event very well known both on my social media and also on the Berlinale’s own X account immediately after the 74th decision of the event (thank you Yahoo! News for picking up one of our posts). Since the event has not rescinded their words, or even affirmed their commitment to free speech, my criticism remains just as current and unequivocal.

During the course of roughly three months, I repeatedly requested an interview with Tricia Truttle. My intention was not to slam Tricia. I have a lot of respect and admiration for the former BFI Festivals Director. Plus, she had already clarified: she does not accept that No Other Land is anti-semitic. Still, my interview request was strangely turned down.

I decided to attend the Berlinale while making it crystal-clear that I vehemently disapprove of their stance. This attack on free speech is at odds with the Festival’s own history of resistance. It’s also an affront to the essence of cinema and the arts. At DMovies, we believe that film is a weapon for personal and also for political liberation. To the Berlinale and German politicians, I’d like to reaffirm: political censorship is incompatible with cinema, and also with the most expensive values of democracy. To those of you who joined the Berlinale Strike: we share an unwavering commitment to international justice, solidarity, and free speech. We stand together. It’s just that I opted to make myself heard from inside the event. I look forward to wearing my keffiyeh at Marlene Dietrich Platz!