Iranian censorship Shortly before the Iranian film
My Favourite Cake was selected for the Main Competition, filmmakers
Behtash Sanaeeha and
Maryam Moqadam were banned from leaving
Iran to attend the Festival, had their passports confiscated, and will face a court trial in relation to their work as artists and filmmakers. The Iranian government decision was met, once again, with international protests, following
Golden Bear winners
Jafar Panahi and
Mohammad Rasoulof arrests in 2022/2023, and numerous others
censorship attempts in the last years.
Rescinsion of AfD invitiation Amid controversy, Berlinale's directors Mariette Rissenbeek and
Carlo Chatrian rescinded its decision to invite representatives of the far-right party
Alternative for Germany (, ) to attend the festival's Opening Ceremony Gala. The decision followed a number of controversies around the party's statements in
opposition to immigration. An open letter was signed by over 200 German cultural industry professionals expressing outrage with the invitations.
Gaza war protests In the introductory press release for the 2024 festival, Berlinale opted not to mention freedom of speech as one of their core values, despite having done so in the previous year's statement. During the festival, hundreds of past and present Berlinale participants signed open letters criticizing Berlinale's complicity in Germany's censorship of pro-Palestine voices amidst the backdrop of the
Gaza war, including over 280
Berlinale Talents alumni, over 190 filmmakers with films in the 2024 festival and over 60 Berlinale contractors. In further protest,
John Greyson, Suneil Sanzgiri and
Ayo Tsalithaba all withdrew their films from the festival, while Maryam Tafakory, Advik Beni, and
Monica Sorelle dropped out of the Berlinale Talents programme, and Emilia Beatriz withdrew from the
European Film Market. Unlike its response to the public's outrage at the AfD invitation, Berlinale directors remained silent to the demands of their filmmakers, alumni, and contractors in support of Palestine. On February 18,
pro-Palestine activists laid down on the front steps of the
Gropius Bau drenched in fake blood with a sign reading, “Welcome to the Red Carpet,” while inside the building others unfurled pro-Palestinian banners from the upper floor. During the Closing Night Ceremony at the Berlinale Palast, on February 25, there were numerous pro-Palestine statements and protests during the red carpet and acceptance speeches, including from
Golden Bear winner
Mati Diop, and Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers
Basel Adra,
Hamdan Ballal,
Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor, the four of whom directed
No Other Land. The
Teddy Award jury posted a statement in solidarity with
Gaza which was met with audience applause as well as loud booing. An
Instagram account linked to the Panorama section published an allegedly official statement from the festival organizers, stating "we acknowledge that our silence makes us complicit in Israel's ongoing
genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing of Palestine" adding: "From our unresolved
Nazi past to our genocidal present – we have always been on the wrong side of history." Minutes later, the Berlinale's main Instagram account stated that the Panorama account was hacked and the posts "do not represent the Berlinale's position", and announced plans to “file criminal charges against unknown persons”.
Berlin Mayor,
Kai Wegner, and numerous other German politicians expressed outrage, calling the closing ceremony statements "anti-Semitic". While the Festival is mainly funded by the
German government, the organizers stated that the "filmmakers' statements were independent and should be accepted as long as they respect the
legal framework". Following the ceremony, Abraham said that a right-wing mob in Israel had threatened his family, stating, "The appalling misuse of this word by Germans... to silence Israelis like me who support a ceasefire... empties the word antisemitism of meaning and thus endangers Jews all over the world". == References ==