Filmmaker Wim Wenders clarified a statement made at the Berlin Film Festival regarding the role of filmmakers in politics, stating they offer a counterweight to political systems. The initial statement sparked debate, including a protest from Arundhati Roy.
Wenders’ comments at the February Berlinale, where he served as jury president, were interpreted as advocating for filmmakers to “stay out of politics.” He explained at a Venice Film Festival press conference Sunday that he meant filmmakers should approach their work with empathy, a quality he believes is absent in politics. “We have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics,” Wenders said at the Berlinale. “But we are the counterweight of politics, we are the opposite of politics. We have to do the work of people, not the work of politicians.”
Wenders reiterated his position at Venice, wearing an “Imagine Peace” shirt, and said he “could repeat the same thing,” but acknowledged he “could be more explicit.” He stated, “What I said then was, as filmmakers, we are the opposite of politicians. We have empathy. Politics work without empathy; that’s all I said.” He emphasized that filmmakers work with empathy to change things, while politicians aim to confirm existing structures.
“That’s what I said and was quoted as ‘We have to stay out of politics,’ and that is not what I said, because it’s not what I said now and I said the same thing then,” Wenders continued. “The frame of filmmakers is a different mindset than the mindset of politicians, and we should not work with that mindset. We work with a different set of rules. I said it again, and I hope you’re not misquoting me and say we have to stay out of politics, because we do the opposite. We are the antidote.”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, jury president at the Venice Film Festival’s opening press conference, also weighed in, asserting that movies are “fundamentally, undeniably political” and can foster empathy. “Look, we could say, how are we possibly here talking about movies right now when the world is in a state of emergency?” she said. “To me, the answer has something to do with empathy. I think that film allows an opening into an opportunity to find empathy inside of ourselves.”
Read the original coverage
💬 Comments
📜 Comment Policy