At a press conference to open the 76th edition of the Berlin film festival, the jury president said ‘cinema has an incredible power’ but little influence on political decision makers
Veteran director Wim Wenders has hailed the power of cinema to help heal a broken planet as he takes up the jury presidency of the Berlinale, the most politically charged of Europe’s big three international film festivals.
Asked about the role of movies in the current climate of war and social upheaval, the auteur behind Wings of Desire and the Oscar-nominated Perfect Days said he saw film-making as an act of bridge-building and generating empathy.
“Yes, movies can change the world,” he told reporters in the German capital at the start of the 11-day event. “Not in a political way. No movie has really changed any politician’s idea, but … we can change the idea that people have of how they should live.”
Fielding a pointed question about German support for Israel during the Gaza war and “selective” solidarity with besieged peoples around the world, Wenders pushed back at the notion that the film industry or the festival should actively take political stances.
