Open letter
From Iris Berben to Jessica Schwarz: Filmmakers condemn anti-Semitism – even in their own camp
On October 22nd, several thousand people in Berlin took a stand against anti-Semitism and showed their solidarity with Israel.
© John MACDOUGALL / AFP
The statement comes late, but at a symbolic date: around 250 German-speaking filmmakers expressed their solidarity with Israel in an open letter and took a position against any form of anti-Semitism.
The German film industry remained silent for a long time: after the cruel massacre carried out by the terrorist organization After Hamas’s attacks on Israeli civilians on October 7th, there were initially only isolated comments. While tens of thousands took to the streets to express their solidarity with the Palestinians, it initially seemed as if the otherwise opinionated filmmakers were cowering away.
The industry has now made up for this with a clear statement. In an open letter, more than 250 German-speaking filmmakers positioned themselves “against anti-Semitism, hatred of Jews and the relativization of crimes.” The paper, published on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, probably not coincidentally, finds clear words about the “Pogroms of October 7, 2023 and the murders and barbaric crimes of at least 1,400 civilians.
The filmmakers differentiate themselves
Just as worried as on Israel The signatories also look at the situation in Germany, where there have been “anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish people or institutions.” This doesn’t just mean the Muslim anti-Semitism that is currently spreading on the German streets.
The open letter also resolutely opposes anti-Semitism in academic discourse and in the cultural scene, “where it hides behind the mask of supposedly emancipatory discourses or deliberately appears vaguely as ‘anti-imperialism’ and ‘anti-capitalism’,” as the letter says. A clear distinction from the so-called “Palestine Statement”, that Students from the Berlin Film School DFFB published a document calling for “an end to the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank.”
In contrast, the filmmakers of the open letter make it clear: “We stand in unconditional solidarity with all Jews in the world who are threatened with life and limb.” They fully support Israel’s right to exist and the right to self-defense guaranteed by the UN.
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The 50 initial signatories include actresses such as Meret Becker, Christian Berkel, Andrea Sawatzky and Anna Brüggemann, as well as names of directors such as Dominik Graf, Caroline Link and Doris Dörrie can be found among them. Other signatories are: Iris Berben and her son Oliver Berben, Hanns Zischler, Inka Friedrich and Jessica Schwarz.
Sources: Open letter from 250 German filmmakers, Statement from students at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb)