German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer defended this year’s Berlinale jury president, Wim Wenders, against criticism from so‑called “Pali activists”.
Wenders had remarked at the festival’s opening that filmmakers are a counterweight to politics and that they should sometimes remain outside political debates. In response, activists from the film community accused him of maintaining an “institutional silence” about the war in Gaza and of running an allegedly apolitical Berlinale.
Weimer said those accusations were unfounded. “I think Wim Wenders and Tricia Tuttle, the festival’s director, run the Berlinale very balanced and sensitive” he told the TV network Welt. “It is, as always, a very political event. Every sensitive topic is addressed. Yet Wim Wenders is being pressured by certain activists-Pali activists-to say and do more. I would like to protect him because I believe he has found the right words”.
The minister added that the festival remains “a place where opinions clash, where open discussion happens; it is the most political festival there is”. He also emphasised that freedom of speech includes the right to stay silent and that artists should not be politically coerced. According to Weimer, the Berlinale is not an NGO run by cameras and directors, but a space where independent filmmakers can thrive, debate freely, and tackle all subjects.