According to The Hollywood Reporter, criminal charges have been brought against a group of unnamed hackers, who were able to briefly post antisemitic remarks onto the Berlin Film Festival’s Instagram page. Organizers of the festival said these remarks did not come from the Berlinale nor did these statements reflect the festival’s stance on the ongoing war in the Middle East, stating, “The Berlinale condemns this criminal act in the strongest possible terms and has deleted the posts and launched an investigation. In addition, the Berlinale has filed criminal charges against unknown persons. The LKA (the state criminal office) has begun an investigation.”

On top of making statements about this social media debacle, the festival also made comments on the awards ceremony’s various acceptance speeches, many of which were political, saying, “The sometimes one-sided and activist statements made by award winners were an expression of individual personal opinions. They in no way reflect the festival’s position.” 

The Berlinale’s event organizers were placed in a tough spot as they had to balance artists’ personal beliefs and Germany’s official state policy to support Israel in its war against Palestine. Speaking on this, Berlinale’s executive director Mariëtte Rissenbeek stated, “The Berlinale stands for democracy and openness. We explicitly oppose discrimination and all forms of hatred. We want to exchange ideas with other social and political institutions on how to conduct a social discourse on this extremely controversial topic in Germany – with the inclusion of international perspectives – without individual statements being perceived as anti-Semitic or anti-Palestinian. We have to face up to this controversial topic – as an international film festival and as a society as a whole.”