Berlin Film Festival Says It “Stands Against Right-Wing Extremism” As Industry Petition Decries Opening Ceremony Invitation To Far-Right Politicians

EXCLUSIVE: A growing list of 200+ film professionals, largely from within the German industry, have signed an open letter protesting the Berlin Film Festival’s decision to invite members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to this year’s opening ceremony.

The open letter was launched Friday evening. Signatories (who can be viewed below) include actors, directors, producers, writers, programmers, educators, journalists and students. The group includes industry from the U.S., UK, and other European countries.

“We, the undersigned, are outraged that invitations have been extended to politicians from the AfD (Alternative for Germany) to the opening ceremony of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival,” the letter began. “We find this to be incompatible with the festival’s commitment to being a place of ‘empathy, awareness, and understanding,’ a declaration shared at its annual press conference on January 19 and published on the festival homepage.”

The letter highlighted a 2019 statement published by the Berlin Film Festival titled “We, the Many,” which singled out far-right groups, saying “right-wing populism” stands in “hostile opposition to the art of the many.” 

The open letter drew out the contrast between the festival’s 2019 statement and its 2024 invitations to the right-wing politicians.  

“The invitations invalidate these statements and are yet another example of the hostile and hypocritical environment art and culture faces in Berlin and Germany,” the letter reads. “We refuse to normalize or allow right-wing politicians to participate in our spaces.”

The letter adds: “We don’t believe the opening ceremony can be considered a safe place for Jews, women, members of the BIPOC, LGBTI+, disabled, Roma and Sinti, or Jehovah’s Witness communities, who, among others, faced persecution and genocide at the hands of another far-right, national-conservative movement in Germany.”

The Berlin Film Festival confirmed to Deadline that AfD members Kristin Brinker and Ronald Gläser, who were elected to office in the last local elections, were extended invitations as part of festival protocol to invite democratically elected politicians to the festival.

The state-funded festival responded to the open letter in a statement to Deadline:

“Members of the AfD were elected to the Bundestag and the Berlin House of Representatives in the last elections. Accordingly, they are also represented in political cultural committees and other bodies. That is a fact, and we have to accept it as such,” the festival said. “Both the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Berlin Senate receive invitation quotas for the Berlinale, which are allocated to the democratically elected members of all parties in the Bundestag and House of Representatives. It was against this background that the AfD representatives were invited to the Berlinale.”

The statement added: “People – including elected representatives – who act contrary to our fundamental values are not welcome at the Berlinale. We will express this clearly and emphatically in a personal letter to the AfD representatives as well as on other occasions.”

Scroll down to read the full statement, which begins with the Berlinale stating that it stands for “basic democratic values and against right-wing extremism and supports all demonstrations and other initiatives against the undemocratic currents.”

The far-right AfD is currently polling second in Germany and there are fears from many in the industry that the party could sweep local and European elections this summer.

The party’s ideology has been classified as anti-Islam, anti-immigration, German nationalist, Eurosceptic and denying of human-caused climate change. Gläser, one of the AfD politicians invited to the Berlinale opening, previously compared Winston Churchill to Adolf Hitler, describing the former as a “warlord” and a “war-criminal”.

Over the last few weeks, hundreds of thousands of Germans have hit the streets in protest against the party, calling for it to be banned after it was uncovered by investigative outlet Correctiv that senior AfD members had discussed a plot to deport asylum-seekers and German citizens of foreign origin en masse if they came to power. 

The plan has been widely criticized in the German media, with current Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying it was “reminiscent of the darkest times in German history,” in reference to Hitler’s Third Reich. 

The industry open letter ends by asking the Berlin Film Festival to “reconsider and rescind these offensive and insensitive invitations for the safety and well-being of all guests attending the festival.”

Berlinale statement to Deadline:

“The Berlinale stands for basic democratic values and against right-wing extremism and supports all demonstrations and other initiatives against the undemocratic currents. We clearly reject right-wing extremist or right-wing populist thinking and are concerned to observe that anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim resentment, hate speech and other anti-democratic attitudes are on the rise in Germany. For weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have been taking to the streets in Germany to defend our democracy and our values. This sends a clear signal of how the majority in Germany thinks and opposes right-wing populism and anti-democracy.

“A number of members and representatives of the AfD hold positions that are deeply anti-democratic and contradict the values of the Berlinale and the values of our employees. We are committed to opposing all forms of exclusion and discrimination and consistently stand up for the values of an open-minded and liberal democracy.

“As for the invitations of AFD members to the opening of the Berlinale:

“Members of the AfD were elected to the Bundestag and the Berlin House of Representatives in the last elections. Accordingly, they are also represented in political cultural committees and other bodies. That is a fact, and we have to accept it as such. Both the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Berlin Senate receive invitation quotas for the Berlinale, which are allocated to the democratically elected members of all parties in the Bundestag and House of Representatives. It was against this background that the AfD representatives were invited to the Berlinale.

“People – including elected representatives – who act contrary to our fundamental values are not welcome at the Berlinale. We will express this clearly and emphatically in a personal letter to the AfD representatives as well as on other occasions.”

List of industry signatories: