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Berlin international film festival disinvites AfD politicians from gala
Directors of festival write to politicians in light of revelations over party’s alleged mass deportation plans
While the AfD’s inclusion in these invitation quotas has not proved controversial at iterations of the Berlin film festival in the past, this year’s Berlinale opens amid an intense debate about whether the anti-immigration party’s increased radicalisation – and accompanying rise in the polls – poses a fundamental threat to Germany’s democratic constitution. Until Thursday’s U-turn, the Berlinale’s organisers had stood by their decision, and received backing from Germany’s federal commissioner for culture, Green politician Claudia Roth. In 2019, the then Berlinale director, Dieter Kosslick, had explicitly invited all members of the AfD to attend the festival, urging them to see a film about the reality of life in the Warsaw ghetto.
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