At Berlin Film Festival, politics are onscreen

When "Yellow Letters" premiered at the start of the Berlin International Film Festival, its story of two artists pushed from their posts for speaking out captured the event’s fraught mood. Set in Turkey but shot in Germany, Ilker Catak’s film uses title cards — "Berlin for Ankara," "Hamburg for Istanbul" — to suggest that politics can constrain artists’ freedom even in Western democracies.

The festival itself became a flashpoint after jury president Wim Wenders said, "We have to stay out of politics," in response to questions about the war in Gaza, a remark that intensified scrutiny and revived a boycott by pro-Palestinian groups that began in 2024.

Critics argued the comments fed a perception that the Berlinale is beholden to its main funder, while an open letter from prominent artists accused the festival of "censoring" voices; the festival’s director called those accusations untrue. For some, the silence on Gaza felt discordant given past statements of solidarity with Ukraine and protesters in Iran.

Germany, Berlin

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