The State Security Police of the Federal Criminal Police Office, which is responsible for political crimes, is investigating an incident that took place during the .
At the premiere of the film “Queerpanorama,” which is not part of the main competition, Hong Kong director Jun Li read on stage a speech by Iranian actor Erfan Shekarriz, who stars in his film. The speech criticized the German government and its cultural institutions, including the Berlinale, for backing the “apartheid, genocide and the brutal extermination of the Palestinian people.”
The speech also included the , “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which refers to the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and therefore includes Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Many activists for Palestinian rights describe it as a call for peace and equality after decades, in which millions of Palestinians have lived under Israeli occupation. Critics of this slogan see it as a call to dismantle Israel and remove or exterminate the Jewish population from the land, which is why German courts have on different occasions charged people who have used it with incitement to hatred.
This is specifically the case since the German Interior Ministry has added the slogan to a list of forbidden signs and slogans, calling it “a trademark” of Hamas. Some courts in Germany though have objected to this interpretation of the slogan as a call for violence against Jews and against the state of Israel. It remains up to every court to decide in specific cases whether the slogan is punishable or not.
Critics of the Ministry of the Interior’s interpretation of the slogan also point out that other variants of the slogan such as, “From the river to the sea — the Israeli flag is all you’ll see” are not criminalized in Germany even though they can be seen as denying Palestinians the right to self-determination.
Last year, criticism of Israel’s policies during the — in particular by the Israeli and Palestinian directors of the documentary “No Other Land” — led to accusations of and calls by German politicians to better manage such potential crises in the future.
US-born film curator Tricia Tuttle, who officially took over the directorship of the festival in April 2024, inherited the challenging task of finding a way to clearly communicate Germany’s laws on hate speech, all while allowing artists to express themselves freely.
New guidelines on ‘dialogue and exchange’
The ceremony’s political backlash led the festival to develop clear guidelines on the matter.
The recommendations published on the Berlinale’s website emphasize that the festival remains committed to protecting free speech, pointing out that Germany’s freedom of expression laws are “very far-reaching” and that they “end only where they infringe on the rights of others, become discriminatory, or violate public order and safety.”
The “Questions & Answers for a Respectful and Open Dialogue During the Berlinale” also dispel the rumor that the Berlinale prohibits participants from wearing clothes or symbols showing solidarity with Palestinians — such as the keffiyeh or a watermelon pin. Symbols that are generally prohibited by German law, such as the swastika, are obviously forbidden at the festival.
The last section in the guidelines specifically addresses the use of the phrase “From the river to the sea:” It “requires particular care, and there have been cases where it has been prosecuted in the state of Berlin,” states the website, adding that, “more generally, some language may have additional because of the Holocaust and the country’s culture of remembrance and reconciliation. This is not to say that we avoid dialogue on these issues, but greater sensitivity in language can lead to more meaningful understanding.”
Reacting to the speech at the “Queerpanorama” premiere, Tuttle said that the Berlinale deeply regretted the incident: “We had informed our guests ahead of the festival about the political statements that are particularly sensitive and that are potentially punishable,” said Tuttle, who also pointed out that the screening’s hosts directly criticized the use of the slogan during the event. There had been no immediate reaction to controversial speeches at the 2024 awards ceremony.
Tilda Swinton makes waves without naming anyone
Last year’s backlash led the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel — part of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement — to call for the boycott of the 2025 Berlinale. BDS has been by the German parliament in multiple resolutions.
Tilda Swinton, who has been a longtime advocate for Palestinians, was asked to comment on why she nevertheless agreed to participate in the festival, where she accepted the Honorary Golden Bear award.
“I’m a great admirer of and have a great deal of respect for BDS and I think about it a lot,” said the actor at a press conference. “I am here today — and yesterday and tomorrow and the next day — because I decided to come, I decided it was more important for me to come. I was given, thanks to the festival, a platform which I decided in a personal moment was potentially more useful to all our causes than me not turning up.”
The press conference came a day after the award ceremony where she condemned — without directly naming any specific country or politician — “efforts of occupation, colonization, takeover, ownership or the development of riviera property.”
Her speech also denounced the “entitled domination and the astonishing savagery of spite, state-perpetrated and internationally enabled mass murder.”
“The inhumane is being perpetrated on our watch,” Swinton said at the opening gala. “I’m here to name it without hesitation or doubt in my mind, and to lend my unwavering solidarity to all those who recognize the unacceptable complacency of our greed-addicted governments who make nice with planet wreckers and war criminals, wherever they come from.”
Certain media outlets, such as the Jüdische Allgemeine newspaper, criticized Swinton’s speech, calling for apologies — presumably recognizing the unnamed Israel in her condemnation of human rights of violations and war crimes.
On various occasions, Tuttle has made clear that the festival will not be making political statements on the conflict in the Middle East or of its participants’ opinions, but she also stressed her belief “that filmmakers have a right to use their platforms to speak about issues they are passionate about, or concerned about. This is free speech. Of course, people may disagree with what is said, and they may voice their opposition to these views. This is also freedom of expression.”
“If we silence people, we will soon no longer have an international film festival,” Tuttle added. “We are firmly against any form of antisemitism. But we must ensure that freedom of expression is preserved.”
Edited by: Brenda Haas and Sarah Hofmann
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