This year’s Berlin Film Festival was always going to be about politically charged films and documentaries. It had multiple entries that talked about the war on Ukraine and the unfathomably distressing crimes happening all over Iran. Activists, actors, and filmmakers have all come together to protest against the inhumane acts the world is suffering from. Famous artists joined the demonstrations that hurled great strength at the people of Iran and Ukraine and shamed the leaders trying to destroy human rights in both of these nations.
Opening Night Of The Festival
During the opening night, the film She Came To Me was not the center of attention as it screened in front of thousands of people. While the Anne Hathway starring romantic comedy was applauded enough, the message that took everyone’s breaths away was the one delivered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In a live video address by the president, Zelensky conveyed the oneness of art, cinema, and politics. He said:
“Culture chooses a side when it decides to speak out against evil, and it takes a side when it remains silent and in fact helps the evil.”
Many have fallen and continue to fall as Russia wages war against Ukranian soil. In this time of hardship, the solidarity of an entity industry means an awful lot to the Ukrainians struggling to survive politically and physically.
One of the celebrities to join the protests with many activists and other artists was Kristen Stewart, the jury president of the Berlin Film Festival. Here’s what she said in a press conference before joining the protests:
“whether you like it or not,” she said, “this festival in particular, historically, is in a positive way confrontational and political.”
She later joined the silent protests for women’s rights in Iran and was joined by fellow artists, including Sepideh Farsi, the director of The Siren, and Golshifteh Farahani, famous for Extraction and The Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
