During the opening ceremony of the 2011 Berlinale, the first covered by ARA, the most notable absentee was Iranian Jafar Panahi, a jury member who had been banned from traveling to the festival by his country's authorities. His empty chair on the stage became a symbol of indignation and solidarity with the oppressed filmmaker. In 2023, the festival went a step further, announcing a ban on companies and media outlets with ties to the governments of Iran and Russia, which had just invaded Ukraine. That same year, the protagonist of the opening gala was another absent figure: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. who performed a ten-minute teleconference interventionThese are some examples of the character of a festival known for its commitment to political and social causes, always ready to take a stand and raise its voice, except for its refusal to condemn the genocide in Palestine, in line with the position of the German government, the festival's main source of funding. This contradiction became visible and was unfortunately amplified this Thursday when Wim Wenders, the president of this year's jury, justified the Berlinale's lack of a political stance. "We shouldn't get involved in politics," he said, gesturing with his hands. "If we make politically engaged films, we enter the realm of politics. But we must be a counterweight to politics (...) and do the work of the people, not the politicians." That a director who has almost never been interested in politics, like Wenders, would express himself in these terms is perfectly legitimate, but to do so as president of the jury of the Berlinale, the quintessential political festival, borders on cynicism.