The Berlin film festival is set to screen a documentary about an Israeli actor held hostage by Hamas, organizers said Tuesday, as it moves on from a row about alleged anti-Semitism at last year’s edition. is visible
Called the documentary film A Letter to David Israeli director Tom Shovel recalls his friendship and work with David Kunio, who was abducted from his home in a kibbutz on October 7, 2023.
Co-director of programming Michael Stutz told reporters at a press conference ahead of the Feb. 13-23 festival that the film is “another deeply personal lament” from Shovel.
Kunio’s fate remains unknown, with the recent cease-fire agreement raising hopes that Hamas will return its captives and Israel will release Palestinians from prison.
At last year’s Berlin awards ceremony, several filmmakers criticized Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has so far killed nearly 47,000 people and injured 110,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
American filmmaker Ben Russell, wearing a Palestinian headscarf, accused Israel of committing “genocide” by bombing a densely populated area.
Palestinian filmmaker Basil Adra said Israel was “massacring” the local population to applause from the audience.
A spokesman for the government of Germany, a staunch ally of Israel, said it was “unacceptable” that the Hamas attacks on Israel that sparked the war were not mentioned at the ceremony.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wagner called the remarks “unacceptable” and said “anti-Semitism has no place in Berlin”.
Wagner also said he expects new festival director Tricia Tuttle to “make sure things like this don’t happen again”.
‘Open Dialogue’
Tuttle said last month that the uproar had driven some film directors away from the festival due to concerns about freedom of expression.
“Many filmmakers from Arab countries have also contacted us over the past weeks, just to make sure the festival is a place for open dialogue and discussion,” he added on Tuesday.
“Where we can, we like to have individual conversations, and we would encourage filmmakers to come to us to talk to us about this.”
South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, best known for his 2019 award-winner Parasitic.is all set to present his new film. Mickey 17 Out of competition in Berlin.
The festival has also announced that it will present a Lifetime Achievement Award to British actor Tilda Swinton, who has worked with Bong in the past.
Tuttle unveiled the full lineup of films for its main competition, including work by American director Richard Linklater, South Korea’s Hong Sangsu, Mexico’s Michel Franco and Romania’s Rado Jude.
Linklater is returning for the first time since 2014, when he won the director’s Silver Bear, the second-biggest award, for his epic “Boyhood” that was filmed in more than a decade.
