DUBAI: More than 80 current and former participants of the Berlin International Film Festival, including Javier Bardem, Tilda Swinton and Adam McKay, have signed an open letter condemning the festival’s “silence” on the Gaza “genocide.”

The controversy began during the opening day press conference when jury president Wim Wenders was asked about the conflict in Gaza and the German government’s support for Israel.

He responded: “We have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics.”

On Tuesday, major figures in the film industry accused the Berlinale of “censoring” artists who have spoken out.

The signatories include Angeliki Papoulia, Saleh Bakri, Tatiana Maslany, Peter Mullan and Tobias Menzies, as well as directors Mike Leigh, Lukas Dhont, Nan Goldin, Miguel Gomes and Avi Mograbi.

“We call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel’s genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Palestinians, and completely end its involvement in shielding Israel from criticism and calls for accountability,” the letter stated.

The letter also noted that the Berlinale had made “clear statements” in the past about other “atrocities” including in Ukraine.

Earlier this week, festival director Tricia Tuttle defended the event. “People have called for free speech at the Berlinale. Free speech is happening at the Berlinale.

“But increasingly, filmmakers are expected to answer any question put to them. They are criticized if they do not answer. They are criticized if they answer and we do not like what they say.

“They are criticized if they cannot compress complex thoughts into a brief sound bite when a microphone is placed in front of them when they thought they were speaking about something else,” she said.

Earlier, author Arundhati Roy, who was supposed to participate in the event, withdrew because of the refusal of Wenders and the jury to condemn Israel’s “genocide.”