The live broadcast of the opening press conference of the jury of the 76th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival was interrupted on Thursday just as a journalist was asking a question related to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, amid an atmosphere that had already grown tense inside the room. Festival organizers denied any act of censorship and attributed the incident to technical problems with the signal.

Jury president Wim Wenders shared the stage with Nepalese director Min Bahadur Bham, South Korean actress Bae Doona, American filmmaker Reinaldo Marcus Green, Japanese director Hikari, Polish producer Ewa Puszczyńska and Indian director and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur. The press conference, marking the official start of the festival, had begun with general questions — festival director Tricia Tuttle opened the event by asking what “excites them about film” — but quickly shifted toward geopolitical issues, including the war in Gaza and the German government’s support for Israel, as the festival’s main funder.

Asked whether cinema can bring about change in the political sphere, Wenders said that “movies can change the world,” but clarified that “not in a political way.” “No movie has really changed any politician’s idea. But we can change the idea people have of how they should live,” he stated. “There’s a big discrepancy on this planet between people who want to live their lives and governments who have other ideas. I think films enter that discrepancy.” The tone hardened, however, when a German journalist pointed out that the Berlinale had shown support for Iran and Ukraine “but never for Palestine,” and asked whether jury members endorsed what he described as a “selective treatment of human rights,” referring to Germany’s backing of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

Puszczyńska was the first to respond, calling the question “a bit unfair.” “Of course, we are trying to talk to people — every single viewer — to make them think, but we cannot be responsible for what their decision would be to support Israel or the decision to support Palestine,” she said. “There are many other wars where genocide is committed, and we do not talk about that. This is a very complicated question and I think it’s a bit unfair asking us what we think, how we support or don’t support, whether we speak to our governments or not.” Wenders reinforced that stance, stressing that as filmmakers, “we have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics. But we are the counterweight of politics, we are the opposite of politics. We have to do the work of people, not the work of politicians.”

Following the technical difficulties with the livestream, the festival issued a statement: “We had technical problems with the web streaming of the Press Conference with the International Jury this morning. We would like to extend our sincere apologies. The full recording of the Press Conference will be made available on the Berlinale website and on YouTube as soon as possible.” Elsewhere during the event, Wenders — who received an honorary Golden Bear in 2015 — highlighted what distinguishes the festival. “You can be sure you’ll see more facets of the world than at any other festival. That’s its great strength,” he said. The new edition officially opens with the premiere of “No Good Men” by Shahrbanoo Sadat and runs through February 22, in a context where the relationship between cinema and politics has once again taken center stage.