Hollywood stars face tough US politics questions at Berlinale
The long and complex shadow of international geopolitics threatened to engulf Germany’s Berlinale, one of the world’s most prestigious film festivals; Tensions are rising between organisers, attendees and the media over the handling of sensitive questions at the festival.
Although the field of filmmaking is often, if not inherently, political, the specter of America’s domestic political turmoil (i.e., news footage of ICE agents harassing and detaining people, including US citizens, and rising protests across the US) has also become a thorny issue.
This combination of issues flared up this week at the Berlinale, also known as the Berlin International Film Festival. The festival’s jury clumsily handled the issue after a filmmaker withdrew from the festival. Hollywood stars are facing tough questions about fascism, the state of American democracy and the festival itself, and are issuing a statement calling for calm.
“Artists are free to exercise their right to freedom of expression in any way they wish,” organizers said in a statement to the media. “Artists should not be expected to comment on every broad discussion about a festival’s previous or current practices over which they have no control. Nor should they be expected to speak out on every political issue thrown at them unless they want to.”
Founded in 1951, Berlinale is one of the world’s five major film festivals and the largest in terms of attendance, along with Cannes, Venice, Toronto and Sundance. Last year, 336 thousand tickets were sold for the 11-day festival.
The spark that lit the fire was lit on the opening day of the 76th annual festival last Thursday (Berlin time), when the jury, including director Wim Wenders and Polish producer Ewa Puszczyńska, faced the press and questions about the conflict in Gaza.
Puszczyńska said this question was unfair. And Wenders responded: “We should stay out of politics because if [specifically] “We are entering the political arena.”
In response to this, the Booker Prize-winning author and filmmaker Arundhati Roy withdrew from the festival. He was scheduled to attend to present the restoration of his 1989 film. Where Annie Gave These.
In his statement, Roy described the suggestion that art should not be political as ” jaw-dropping “.
The 64-year-old writer and filmmaker said Wenders’ comments were “a way to shut down the conversation about a crime against humanity, even as it unfolds before us in real time — when artists, writers and filmmakers should be doing everything they can to stop it.”
A day later, American domestic politics spilled onto the Berlinale stage as two Hollywood stars, Neil Patrick Harris and Michelle Yeoh, tackled tough questions about growing global unrest about the state of America’s democracy.
While Hollywood’s PR machinery often tries to control the line of questioning at local film screenings, international film festivals are still a bit of the Wild West when it comes to the media’s treatment of A-list movie stars.
Harris was at the festival to promote the film sunny danceraccompanied by leading lady Bella Ramsey (game of Thrones, The Last of Us) and director George Jaques. In the film, Ramsey plays a young girl sent to a summer camp for children affected by cancer, and despite her distaste for the experience, she discovers a group of unlikely friends.
But press questions quickly turned to US politics, following questions about whether the film made a comment on the health situation in the US.
When asked whether art should be political and whether cinema could fight fascism, Harris replied: “I think we live in a strangely algorithmic and divided world right now, and so as artists I’m always interested in doing apolitical things. Because we all, as humans, want to connect in some way.”
Then the question: “Do you dare to criticize your government and do you think about democracy? [United States] Is he in danger?”
Harris simply responded “wow” and then said: “While I have my own political views… I never read this script as a political statement. It was more about a person growing up and becoming singular and aware of themselves.” [about] friendship.”
Later, tensions flared further at a press conference for Academy Award-winning Malaysian actor Michelle Yeoh, whose high-profile career includes: Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Crazy Rich Asianstelevision series Star Trek: Discovery and two Bad movies, Bad And Bad: For Good.
Yeoh declined to respond in detail when asked to comment on the state of US domestic policy. “I don’t think I’m in a position to really talk about the political situation in the United States, and I can’t say I understand how it happened,” he said. “So it’s best not to talk about something I don’t know. [I want] “To focus on what is important to us, which is cinema.”
Yeoh appeared at the festival as the winner of his lifetime achievement Golden Bear.
In the statement of the festival organizers, it was emphasized that the artists were criticized for their answers to political questions, no matter how they answered them.
“Filmmakers are increasingly expected to answer every question they are asked. If they don’t, they are criticized. If they answer, they are criticized, and we don’t like what they say. They are criticized if they can’t squeeze complex thoughts into a short piece of audio when a microphone is placed in front of them when they think they are talking about something else,” the statement said.
In the statement, it was stated that the festival’s program included 278 films covering “many perspectives”.
“[At the festival] “Filmmakers talk all the time,” the statement said. “They talk through their work. They talk about their work. They occasionally talk about geopolitical issues that may or may not be related to their films. “It is a big and complex festival.”
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Michael Idato is general culture editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
