Berlinale chief dismisses concerns over German cultural boycott

BERLIN

A head of the Berlinale on Jan. 22 said the film festival was a place for "dialogue and inclusion" amid calls for a boycott of Germany's cultural institutions over their stance on the Israel-Hamas war.

The plea came at the unveiling of the full competition lineup for the 2024 Berlinale, with prominence given to several African films.

More than four months after the start of the war in Gaza, the festival heads, Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, expressed sympathy for "all the victims of the humanitarian crises in the Middle East" in the festival program.

"We are also concerned to see that anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim resentment and hate speech are spreading in Germany and around the world," they said.

The outbreak of the war on Oct. 7 has roiled the German cultural scene, where Berlin's staunch backing for Israel has prompted cries that pro-Palestinian voices are being marginalized.

The group "Strike Germany" has called on creative workers to boycott cultural institutions in the country, with a petition gathering hundreds of signatures, among them Nobel-winning author Annie Ernaux.

Asked about the "Strike Germany" campaign, Chatrian said he had not received "any signal" from directors in the main program that intended to withdraw their entries.

"If it will happen, we will deal with that, we'll respect the decision but we will regret the decision," he said.

"The Berlinale is a place of inclusion and dialogue," Chatrian added, noting that a Israeli-Palestinian documentary and a film by the Israeli director Amos Gitai would be shown at the festival in mid-February.

In the competition selection, a trio of films by African directors speak to their growing representation in festival lineups.

Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako, who won a Cesar for his 2015 picture "Timbuktu," returns with "Black Tea," the story of an Ivorian woman who falls in love with an export merchant in China.

French-Senegalese director Mati Diop will present a documentary on the return of cultural artifacts to West Africa from Europe, while Tunisian filmmaker Meryam Joobeur will premiere her debut feature.

Other notable names on the lineup, include an idiosyncratic sci-fi feature from French director Bruno Dumont, as well as films starring top names such as Gael Garcia Bernal, Isabelle Huppert and Cillian Murphy.