BERLIN, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged filmmakers to take sides in what he called a battle between freedom and tyranny, drawing parallels between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Berlin Wall.
Zelenski recalled his own experience as an actor and urged his colleagues to “break the fourth wall” by speaking directly to their audience.
“For many years Potsdam Square was divided by the Berlin Wall,” he said via video link. “Today Russia wants to build the same wall in Ukraine – a wall between us and Europe, to separate Ukraine from its own choice for the future.”
Now in its 73rd edition, the Berlinale owes its reputation as the most political of major film festivals to its origins as a city divided during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the West.
Art could choose to take sides or remain neutral, which amounted to endorsing tyranny, said Zelensky, whose experiences from the early days of the invasion a year ago are the subject of a documentary by Sean Penn, “Superpower,” which will premiere at the party on Friday.
The festival’s opening gala was briefly interrupted by last generation activists who clung to the red carpet in protest against environmental degradation.
Among the stars in attendance this year are director Steven Spielberg, musician Bono and actors Fan Bingbing and Anne Hathaway, one of many who cried as Zelensky spoke.
Hathaway, who plays a therapist whose own demons are as severe as those of any of his patients in Rebecca Miller’s “She Came To Me,” the festival’s opening film, hailed Zelensky as a “hero of our time”.
This year’s festival will focus on pro-democracy protests in Iran, as well as the conflict in Ukraine. Films supported by the Iranian and Russian governments are banned.
“Berlin is the city that broke the wall,” said French-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, a member of the jury. “This year is very important for us, for the Iranian people. We are fighting for freedom and we are not giving up.”
Outside of the main competition, films from Mexico and Australia will be screened, tackling topics ranging from race and American history to gender transition and gender identity. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing in Spanish by Aida Peláez-Fernández)