Berlinale 2026: Arab and Turkish filmmakers deliver strong line-up despite Gaza controversy

Berlinale 2026: Arab and Turkish filmmakers deliver strong line-up despite Gaza controversy Submitted by Joseph Fahim on Wed, 03/18/2026 - 09:18 Palestinian-Syrian director Abdallah al-Khatib ruffled the feathers of the German elite with his passionate defence of the Palestinian cause A scene from Rania Rafei's 'The Day of Wrath: Tales from Tripoli' (Orjuane Productions) Off After a week of “will they, won’t they” speculation, as this writer had anticipated , Tricia Tuttle, the artistic director of the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), has not been removed from her post, despite hints to the contrary from right-wing German tabloids. Several letters of support have since been signed by Berlinale staff, as well as filmmakers and programmers from around the world. “Supporting genuine freedom of expression, including the freedom to articulate imperfect or unpopular opinions, has never been more important,” one open letter reads The German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported that Tricia Tuttle will remain in her position “after agreeing to plans for an advisory council and a code of conduct”, according to Wolfram Weimer, chair of the festival’s supervisory committee, Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin (KBB).