The Berlin Film Festival head defended actors and filmmakers who select to keep away from politics in press interviews in a prolonged assertion Saturday night time.
Director Tricia Tuttle made the feedback after actors like Neil Patrick Harris and Michelle Yeoh declined to remark on US political issues while attending the pageant. Festival jury head and German filmmaker Wim Wenders also came under scrutiny for fielding several questions regarding the battle in Gaza.
Tuttle defended their apolitical stances, including that artists should not be expected to offer “a brief sound bite” on every political subject.
“People have called for free speech at the Berlinale,” Tuttle said. “Free speech is happening at the Berlinale. But increasingly, filmmakers are expected to answer any question put to them. They are criticized if they do not answer. They are criticized if they answer, and we do not like what they say. They are criticized if they cannot compress complex thoughts into a brief sound bite when a microphone is placed in front of them when they thought they were speaking about something else.”
Tuttle also defended their work, saying that they all present totally different views on political points, whether it was politics with a “small ‘p’” or a “capital ‘P.’”
Michelle Yeoh recieving the Honorary Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival on Feb. 12, 2026. Getty Images
“In a media environment dominated by crisis, there is less oxygen left for serious conversation about film or culture at all, unless it can be folded as well into a news agenda,” she said.
Tuttle emphasised that most filmmakers at the pageant show a “deep respect” for human dignity, regardless of how concerned they were in politics.
“We do not believe there is a filmmaker screening in this festival who is indifferent to what is happening in this world, who does not take the rights, the lives and the immense suffering of people in Gaza and the West Bank, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Sudan, in Iran, in Ukraine, in Minneapolis, and in a terrifying number of places, seriously,” Tuttle said.
Neil Patrick Harris answering questions at a press convention for the premiere of his new movie “Sunny Dancer” at the Berlin Film Festival on Feb. 13, 2026. ZUMAPRESS.com
She added, “Artists are free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose. Artists should not be expected to comment on all broader debates about a festival’s previous or current practices over which they have no control. Nor should they be expected to speak on every political issue raised to them unless they want to.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Berlin Film Festival for remark.
Although celebrities like Harris and Yeoh have opted to keep out of politics, others have had no hesitation in getting into the political area, notably at the Grammy Awards earlier this month.
