AIP Wire Desk, Dhaka.
Award-winning Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy has announced that she will not be attending the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival after a dispute over comments made by members of the festival’s jury regarding the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The decision highlights rising tensions in cultural circles over how major arts institutions engage with political issues and humanitarian crises.
Roy, whose debut novel The God of Small Things won the Booker Prize in 1997 and who gained renewed attention for her broader political commentary, had been invited to the festival to present a restored version of her 1989 film In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, featured in the Berlinale’s Classics section.
In a statement released to international media agencies, Roy said she was “shocked and disgusted” by remarks from festival jury president Wim Wenders and other jury members, who said filmmakers should “stay out of politics” when asked about the Gaza war during a press conference. The jury’s stance, she argued, effectively sidelines urgent conversations about human suffering and state violence.
Roy described the jury’s comments as “unconscionable” and insisted that art cannot be detached from politics at a time of widespread violence. In her statement, she referred to the situation in Gaza as a genocide of the Palestinian people and urged artists and cultural figures to confront rather than ignore such issues.
Her withdrawal from the Berlinale has added to ongoing debates about the role of film festivals and cultural institutions in responding to global conflicts. Some see her decision as a principled stand for artistic responsibility, while others view it as part of broader divisions in how the international arts community addresses political struggles.
