It’s the stalwart winter movie date before the Academy Awards and Cannes, which follows in the spring. But it is also the most deeply politicized film festival, if one looks at the content of the individual sections and specials, such as Panorama or its retrospectives, but also at the attitude of the organizers, many artists and the cinephile public.

Since the opening gala on the red carpet of the Berlinale Palast a few days ago, the images of the stars’ bright smiles and haute couture creations have gone around the world not so much as the protest against the far right. “Defend Democracy” was the slogan on the red carpet after the Berlinale decided not to invite Alternative for Germany MPs elected to the federal parliament following recent revelations about shady plans for mass deportations of migrants.

The ensuing debate inside and outside the festival was vociferous, with a key question being whether canceling the invitation to AfD MPs was the right choice. Defending, as always, the historic institution of the Berlinale, the Deputy Minister of Culture Claudia Roth from the Greens had however pointed out to the board that such a move involves risks and therefore would not be appropriate, giving weight to the respect for the parliamentary institutions that ultimately honor respective invitations.

Following the political pulse of Berlin

According to reports in the German press these days and while the film festival is in full swing until February 25, it is almost overshadowed by political developments, be it the rise of the far right in Germany and Europe, or the war in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine but also the death of anti-regime Alexei Navalny in prison in the Arctic Circle. After all, not far from the Berlinale Palast is the Russian embassy, ​​outside of which people have been lighting candles and demonstrating in Navalny’s memory for the last few nights.

There is no Russian film in the program this year either. The Iranian directors of the Golden Bear contender My Favorite Cake were unable to come to Berlin because they were banned from leaving the country, while Ghanaian director Ahi Chalitaba withdrew his film from the Forum Expanded program in protest against Germany’s stance in favor of Israel against the background of the drama of the people in Gaza.

Simply put, at this year’s Berlinale, everyone is talking mostly about politics and less about movies. And the cinema, one could say, follows the life and of course the pulse of this city, Berlin, which lives in any case a special winter between rage and awakening.