As the film industry prepares to attend the Berlinale Film Festival 2026, the Palestine Film Institute reiterates last year’s message to the festival: we are appalled by Berlinale’s institutional silence on the genocide of Palestinians, and its unwillingness to defend the freedoms of speech and expression of filmmakers.
Palestine has dropped off the news agenda, but we refuse to let our film communities forget both the suffering and the resilience of the Palestinian people facing genocide.
It is time to ask ourselves: what have film festivals done? How have they addressed their complicity in genocide? How have they supported filmmakers to express themselves freely and safely? How have they gone beyond performative gestures to engage in real dialogue and acknowledge the harm done?
Our only observation in the case of Berlinale is continued policing of filmmakers alongside a continued commitment to collaborate with Federal Police on their investigations. Under Germany’s political climate, merely speaking in support of Palestine in an event is considered a risk and could initiate a police investigation, as happened in the festival’s 2025 edition.
Therefore, the PFI cannot recommend filmmakers attend Berlinale 2026, and the PFI will not have an official presence at the festival this year. The PFI again urges filmmakers and institutions to seriously reconsider their engagement with the festival. Standing together with film workers who are unable to speak out—who are persecuted, threatened, displaced and silenced, both in Palestine and abroad—the PFI asks the international film community to endorse our demands that the festival:
Commit to defending the freedom of speech of Palestinian filmmakers and their supporters by allowing them to publicly express opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the colonization of Palestine at festival events
Commit to defending filmmakers and guests from censorship and political attacks
Commit to end cooperation with Police in criminal investigations of political speech
Ensure that films that have been withdrawn from their festivals in solidarity with Palestine remain on the program and its archiving with an explanation for the withdrawal.
Until these demands are met, we urge those attending, moderating, showing their films or participating in other ways in Berlinale 2026 to consider one or all of the following actions:
Withdraw your film, explain publicly the reason behind the withdrawal and ask the festival to include your statement on your film’s page on their website.
Use Q&As, talks and panels to voice your solidarity with Palestine and speak out against the genocide.
Reject complicit film festivals if they don’t support the central tenets of our filmmaking practice, and commit to building communities, networks, and institutions that meet our needs. This is a signal for institutions to change or become irrelevant.
If you have bought tickets to watch films, ask for a refund and explain why.
Challenge the festival administration and board about freedom of speech, questioning how their cooperation with the German police impacts on the way the festival is curated and run
