Arundhati Roy to skip Berlinale over jury comments on Gaza | India News
New Delhi: Author Arundhati Ray announced that he will not attend the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlin), where a film he wrote nearly four decades ago is scheduled to be screened in the festival’s Classics section. Roy’s screenplay In which Annie gives it to those O’sWritten 38 years ago, it was selected for screening at the Berlinale 2026. In a statement released Friday, he described the election as meaningful on a personal level.“In Annie Gives It Does Once, a whimsical film I wrote 38 years ago, was selected to be screened under the Classics category at Berlinale 2026. There was something sweet and wonderful about it for me,” he said.However, Roy says he grapples with broader political concerns regarding Germany’s position on Palestine, even as he acknowledges the support he has received from German visitors in the past. “Although I am deeply disturbed by the position taken by the German government and various German cultural institutions on Palestine, I have always found political solidarity when I speak to German audiences about my views on the genocide in Gaza. This is what made it possible for me to consider attending the screening of Annie at the Berlinale.”
His decision not to attend, he said, followed comments made by members of the Berlinale jury earlier Thursday. “This morning, like millions of people around the world, I heard the incoherent statements made by members of the Berlin Film Festival jury when they were asked to comment on the massacre in Gaza. It is shocking to hear them say that art should not be political. It’s a way to shut down conversations about crimes against humanity, even as they unfold before us in real time—when artists, writers, and filmmakers should be doing everything in their power to stop it.“Roy made his position unequivocal: “Let me be clear: What has happened in Gaza, what is about to happen, is the genocide of the Palestinian people…” He also criticized prominent cultural figures for what he saw as their silence. “If the best filmmakers and artists of our time can’t stand up and say that, they should know that history will judge them. I’m shocked and disgusted.”Concluding his statement, Roy announced his withdrawal from the event: “With deep regret, I must say that I will not be attending the Berlinale.”
