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The AfD Invitation, Staff Disquiet & Uncomfortable Meetings: The Inside Story Of The Berlin Film Festival’s Tumultuous Build-Up
The festival sparked controversy ten days by inviting the far-right AfD party to its opening ceremony. This led to much angst behind the scenes.
However, on Monday and Tuesday, Rissenbeek — who runs the business and media-facing side of the festival — and German Culture Minister Claudia Roth, gave a series of interviews to local media outlets in which they defended the decision to invite the AfD and there was no public rowing back. The spokesman made reference to recent reports about a secret meeting held by senior AfD members in which they allegedly discussed deporting asylum-seekers and German citizens of foreign origin en masse if they came to power. Demands for a homogeneous society, immigration restrictions and mass deportations, homophobic and anti-queer or racist statements to bad historical revisionism, and clear right-wing extremism – you can find all of that in the AfD.
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