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rrenault wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 4:59 pm I wasn’t sure where else to bring this up, but there’s apparently been quite a bit of hoopla about Wim Wenders dodging questions on Israel-Palestine at the opening of this year’s Berlinale.

There’s a lot of “fuck Wenders, this will now be his legacy” reactions on Twitter.

beamish14 wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 6:33 pm His comments about Do the Right Thing at Cannes ‘89 show that he’s always been pretty out of touch

Zot! wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 7:29 pm

beamish14 wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 6:33 pm His comments about Do the Right Thing at Cannes ‘89 show that he’s always been pretty out of touch

Other criticisms may stand, but unless I misunderstand Lee threatened to beat Wenders (the Jury president) with a baseball bat when he didn't win. And while I have strong feelings on the conflict, I would agree that a jury announcing their prejudices is not a good start to the proceedings. Todd Haynes might have been happy to support Johnathon Glazer speaking out, but that didn't stop him from chairing the Berlinale jury last year.
Speaking of Lee, I don't think he's done anything of note since the turn of the millennium, though I know he has his defenders.

Never Cursed wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 6:42 pm The question as phrased was as follows: “My question is, in light of the German government’s support of the genocide in Gaza and its role as the main funder of the Berlinale do you as a member of the jury support this selective treatment of human rights?” I've made my beliefs on the issue clear elsewhere, and I'm not saying it was a particularly brave or impressive move to duck the question and argue for cinema's political neutrality (which I myself don't believe in), but in what world would Wenders give a useful response to it? It's incredibly hostile.

rrenault wrote: Fri Feb 13, 2026 1:34 pm

Never Cursed wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 6:42 pm The question as phrased was as follows: “My question is, in light of the German government’s support of the genocide in Gaza and its role as the main funder of the Berlinale do you as a member of the jury support this selective treatment of human rights?” I've made my beliefs on the issue clear elsewhere, and I'm not saying it was a particularly brave or impressive move to duck the question and argue for cinema's political neutrality (which I myself don't believe in), but in what world would Wenders give a useful response to it? It's incredibly hostile.

But when Juliette Binoche was vocally supportive of Palestine and honored the slain journalist at Cannes this past spring, does Wim Wenders really have a legitimate excuse for "not wanting to be political" at a peer European film festival?

Never Cursed wrote: Fri Feb 13, 2026 2:58 pm Honestly, as far as art-house directors putting themselves in hot water this past week, Jia Zhangke's comments have been far more personally embarrassing than Wenders'.

thirtyframesasecond wrote: Wed Feb 18, 2026 3:32 pm
Ethan Hawke avoids answering questions on this topic during the press conference for his new film at Berlin.

thirtyframesasecond wrote: Sun Feb 15, 2026 9:47 pm Bit tedious that everything now is seen through the prism of the Israel-Palestine conflict

Lowry_Sam wrote: Thu Feb 19, 2026 6:34 am

thirtyframesasecond wrote: Sun Feb 15, 2026 9:47 pm Bit tedious that everything now is seen through the prism of the Israel-Palestine conflict

It wasn't that long ago that people were making the same complaint about Me-Too, which also came about because nothing was being done about sexual harassment & assault within the industry.

For starters it's not a conflict, but a genocide (theft of land, systematic extermination of the people living on that land & the erasure of their culture) that has been going on for decades. Second, the unending stream of depravity by Israel that the world has witnessed has surpassed what anyone would ever have guessed by those who claimed "never again" at the end of WWII. Berlinale is the venue to make such cultural criticism as the German government (along with the US, the UK & Russia) are the most responsible for it (just as Cannes would be an appropriate venue to make a statement about Algeria or Vietnam).

Lowry_Sam wrote: Thu Feb 19, 2026 6:34 amIt wasn't that long ago that people were making the same complaint about Me-Too, which also came about because nothing was being done about sexual harassment & assault within the industry.

Wolfram is a decidedly political film. It has a good deal to say about white oppression in Australia, opening with a shocking scene of black children carting buckets of rocks for white tungsten prospectors. Deborah Mailman anchors the film as a grieving mother who, having been forced into a relationship with an abusive white man, has lost her children; Errol Shand is the disruptor, a vile outcast who takes pride in mowing down any black people who have the bad luck to be in his field of vision.

Thornton says, however, that simply being at the festival as an Indigenous filmmaker is the statement he wants to make.

“I don’t think, I do,” he said at the film’s press conference on Tuesday (Berlin time). He pointed to the three other Indigenous Australians on the podium with him.

“What’s really clear is that we’re Aboriginal. Our families have lasted 200 years through colonisation, murder, rape, poisoning, genocide and stolen generations, trying to breed the black out of us. Us being here is a political statement … We don’t need anything more than that. We’re an embarrassment, but we’re the best embarrassment.”

Captain Paranoia wrote: Mon Feb 23, 2026 12:00 am Honestly while I cannot defend Berlinale and their handling of the situation, I don't think the gunpoint approach to questioning people about the conflict (clearly with the intention of fueling headlines for the press and in turn inciting loud reactions one way or the other - similar case goes with Michelle Yeoh being questioned about the extreme immigration crackdown in America) is helpful especially in these sort of scenarios. I will say it's hypocritical to claim Berlinale isn't political when as recent as 2023 the festival opened with a video call from Zelensky in discussion of Ukraine.

As for Wenders I don't necessarily agree with his sentiment yet I wonder on whether or not he was sincere and if he should be given the benefit of the doubt about such. The charitable belief is that he (alongside the rest of the jury) had to deliver an indifferent statement lest the festival deal with the German government's hostile crackdown and restrictive handling of critics of Israel (something that should not be underestimated). He has delivered statements to the contrary in the past (as for his films they speak for themselves). I definitely don't think this should color his reputation and overall legacy in the end.

For what it's worth, out of curiosity if he's expressed his viewpoints on the conflict elsewhere, I discovered an interview from two years back. In that interview, Wenders laments the destruction of Palestine (specifically in discussing a project that dealt with Palestine that he was forced to revise amidst the conflict).

rrenault wrote: Mon Feb 23, 2026 3:24 pm To play devil's advocate, why should film industry professionals be allowed off the hook for political cowardice, especially when said cowardice is coming from a place of self-interest("I don't want to get on the wrong side of the folks with the most power and influence, lest I lose my industry connections, etc.")? Also, while it's true people took a gunpoint approach to questioning, the Berlinale was frankly asking for it and already in hot water given both Germany's staatsräson and the No Other Land frenzy a couple years back.

Captain Paranoia wrote: Mon Feb 23, 2026 12:00 am Honestly while I cannot defend Berlinale and their handling of the situation, I don't think the gunpoint approach to questioning people about the conflict (clearly with the intention of fueling headlines for the press and in turn inciting loud reactions one way or the other - similar case goes with Michelle Yeoh being questioned about the extreme immigration crackdown in America) is helpful especially in these sort of scenarios. I will say it's hypocritical to claim Berlinale isn't political when as recent as 2023 the festival opened with a video call from Zelensky in discussion of Ukraine.

As for Wenders I don't necessarily agree with his sentiment yet I wonder on whether or not he was sincere and if he should be given the benefit of the doubt about such. The charitable belief is that he (alongside the rest of the jury) had to deliver an indifferent statement lest the festival deal with the German government's hostile crackdown and restrictive handling of critics of Israel (something that should not be underestimated). He has delivered statements to the contrary in the past (as for his films they speak for themselves). I definitely don't think this should color his reputation and overall legacy in the end.

For what it's worth, out of curiosity if he's expressed his viewpoints on the conflict elsewhere, I discovered an interview from two years back. In that interview, Wenders laments the destruction of Palestine (specifically in discussing a project that dealt with Palestine that he was forced to revise amidst the conflict).