Why Are Celebrities Avoiding Politics at Berlin Film Festival?

A clear sign that the world has gone topsy-turvy is when the Grammys are more political than the Berlinale.

But while anti-ICE pins and punchy statements were the surprise headline act in L.A. earlier this month, over in Berlin, historically an event where politics has played center stage on and off screen, the overriding theme of the 2026 festival so far is one of political silence. Or at least that’s how the narrative has been framed.

Festival attendees Wim Wenders, Michelle Yeoh and Neil Patrick Harris have all come under fire online over their apparent refusal to make political statements when prompted in press conferences. Jury head Wenders’ comments on the opening day, in which he asserted that “we have to stay out of politics” when asked about the German government’s support for Israel impacting the festival’s stance on Gaza, lit the match. It soon led to author Arundhati Roy pulling out of the festival in anger. The bombardment of political questions in each and every media meet only snowballed from there on.

But when does it become the responsibility of an artist attending a festival to speak out?

Many might have assumed that Wenders, who has previously asserted that “every film is political,” wouldn’t have deflected a question that most festival vets would have known was coming and perhaps offered something stronger to say.

But then, should Yeoh — who has been living in Switzerland for the last seven years — be expected to offer a soundbite about the political situation in the U.S.? And why would Neil Patrick Harris, in town to promote ‘Sunny Dancer,’ a British coming-of-age comedy about teenagers with cancer from a 25-year-old director, want the top line to be his opinions on American diplomatic threats? In each case, however, their comments — or lack thereof — became the story.

As Berlinale head Tricia Tuttle wrote in a lengthy statement put out on Saturday, filmmakers are now “expected to answer any question put to them,” and are “criticized if they do not answer.”

For Tilo Jung, the German political journalist who has been asking many of the politically-pronged questions, given the “rise of fascism” across much of the West, artists with a “bigger reach” should be using their platforms to speak out.

“Fascism is the enemy of artistic freedom,” he says, pointing to the attacks against Bad Bunny following his Super Bowl performance. “So artists — especially the Hollywood elite —have a special role in a least raising their voices. They need to step up — and the time to do that is now. We need to learn from history.”

One artist who did speak up — to an extent — was Rupert Grint, asked if he would comment on the rise of the far-right in the U.K. in the press conference for Finnish horror “Nightborn.”

His answer — “Obviously, I’m against it” — prompted many to question the entire point of asking celebrities such questions.

“But that was a better answer than Neil Patrick Harris,” said Jung. “Nobody is expecting a TED Talk. But at least expect one question and have an answer. But if an artist is afraid to speak up when it comes to fascism — then they shouldn’t be coming. Because these are different times. This is about good and evil, and as a German, we know what we’re talking about. You can’t be on the sidelines when it comes to this.”

It should be noted that in the same press con for “Nightborn,” screenwriter Ilja Rautsi did say that it was “important to shine a light on whatever issues we are facing because art is all about empathy,” adding “it’s maybe good to create some form of pressure, or just to get people aware of whatever is happening in the world.”

But there has certainly been a sense that the festival has been trying to keep the politics on the sidelines, or least displayed through the art rather than the artist.

While Tuttle said that the political nature of “No Good Men” from Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat was one of the reasons it was selected for the opening night, the ceremony itself— aside from the red carpet guests (several of whom brought messages concerning hot topics like Iran and fascism) — was politics free. It was a far cry from 2023, when Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the guests on the opening night.

And in the press conference for Charli xcx’s “The Moment,” the moderator took only two questions from the journalists in the room, dominating the rest of the time by asking her own softball questions.

But leave it to an outspoken U.S. rocker to buck the trend just a day later.

Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello — in town as co-director of music doc “The Ballad of Judas Priest” about the heavy metal pioneers — wasted little time on wading into the debate.

“What a time to be alive, where you can both make a documentary about one of your favorite bands and fight fascism at the same time,” he said.

The room of journalists — perhaps hungry for something, anything with a bit of political bite — erupted into applause.