Arundhati Roy (File photos)
NEW DELHI: Author Arundhati Roy has announced that she will not attend the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), where a film she wrote nearly four decades ago is scheduled to be screened in the festival’s Classics section. Roy’s screenplay In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, written 38 years ago, was selected for screening at Berlinale 2026. In a statement released on Friday, she described the selection as meaningful on a personal level.“In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, a whimsical film that I wrote 38 years ago, was selected to be screened under the Classics section at the Berlinale 2026. There was something sweet and wonderful about this for me,” she said.However, Roy said she had been grappling with broader political concerns related to Germany’s stance on Palestine, even as she acknowledged the support she has received from German audiences in the past. “Although I have been profoundly disturbed by the positions taken by the German government and various German cultural institutions on Palestine, I have always received political solidarity when I have spoken to German audiences about my views on the genocide in Gaza. This is what made it possible for me to think of attending the screening of Annie at the Berlinale.”Her decision not to attend, she said, followed remarks made by members of the Berlinale jury earlier on Thursday. “This morning, like millions of people across the world, I heard the unconscionable statements made by members of the jury of the Berlin film festival when they were asked to comment about the genocide in Gaza. To hear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping. It is a way of shutting down a conversation about a crime against humanity even as it unfolds before us in real time—when artists, writers and filmmakers should be doing everything in their power to stop it.”Roy went on to state her position unequivocally: “Let me say this clearly: what has happened in Gaza, what continues to happen, is a genocide of the Palestinian people…” She also criticized prominent cultural figures for what she sees as their silence. “If the greatest filmmakers and artists of our time cannot stand up and say so, they should know that history will judge them. I am shocked and disgusted.”Concluding her statement, Roy announced her withdrawal from the event: “With deep regret, I must say that I will not be attending the Berlinale.”
