“In Berlin, world events are for ever on the cinema doorstep and keep on spilling inside.” İlker Çatak won the Berlinale’s Gold Bear for Yellow Letters, a drama about creeping authoritarianism—but as the festival opened, jury president Wim Wenders caused an uproar by stating that filmmakers “have to stay out of politics.” (NPR, 2/21/26; The Guardian, 2/21/26; The Guardian, 2/26/26; The New York Times, 2/27/26)
Politics at the 2026 Berlinale
