Never before had such a thing happened at the Berlinale. At 3 pm on Thursday, February 15, two hours before the opening of the 74th edition – which runs until February 25 – an anti-fascist protest took place not far from the Berlinale Palast, the festival's home on the Gabriele-Tergit Promenade. Some 20 artists, lined up in a row, each held up a cardboard sign bearing a single capital letter, with the whole forming the slogan: "No Seats for Fascists Anywhere."
This slogan was aimed at the Berlinale team, as the festival's two directors, Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek – under pressure from the festival's staff – "disinvited" five elected officials from Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. These politicians had planned, much like representatives from other parties, to attend the festival's opening ceremony. The rise of the far-right in the country – combined with the AfD conference in a Potsdam hotel on November 25, 2023, to discuss a plan for the large-scale deportation of German citizens of foreign origin – have greatly disturbed a section of the population, which has mobilized for large-scale demonstrations in recent weeks.
"The Berlinale has a lot of space for dialogue between people and for art. But it has no space for hatred. Hatred is not on our guest list. It won't be invited," insisted Rissenbeek, who will be retiring at the end of this year's edition. Chatrian will also be stepping down, and the duo will be replaced by American festival director Tricia Tuttle, head of the feature film directing department at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, north-west London.
This year's red carpet was not just a stage for glamor. During the opening ceremony cocktail party, a redheaded beauty in a strapless dress wore a rhinestone necklace adorned with the message "Fuck AfD," while a young black man sported a white cape reading "More Empathy." Skin color matters, stressed the Berlinale jury president, Mexican-Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o, who won an Oscar in 2014 for her role in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave: "I've learned that I'm the first Black [Berlinale jury] president," she declared proudly.
Alongside her on stage, Ukrainian poet and competition jury member Oksana Zaboujko described the great split in the events of her day: That morning, she had been online with relatives, who told her of the latest Russian bombings and their new victims; before she found herself posing a few hours later for a Berlinale photographer. War will not let itself be forgotten: The second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine will take place during the festival, on February 24, while the Israeli-led conflict in the Gaza Strip rages on, in response to the massacre perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
You have 40% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.