More than 80 movie trade figures together with Oscar-winning actors Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton issued an announcement on Tuesday slamming the Berlin Film Festival’s “silence” on Gaza.

The signatories to the open letter, despatched to AFP, mentioned they had been “appalled” by the pageant’s “institutional silence” and “dismayed” at its “involvement in censoring artists who oppose Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza”.

Their assertion got here after the Berlinale’s jury president, German director Wim Wenders, answered a query on Gaza final week by saying: “We cannot really enter the field of politics.”

Prominent administrators who signed Tuesday’s letter, coordinated by the Film Workers for Palestine collective, embrace British filmmaker Mike Leigh and the American Adam McKay.

The signatories embrace many artists who’ve offered work on the Berlin Film Festival. Swinton was herself final yr awarded its prestigious Honorary Golden Bear award.

They mentioned they “fervently disagree” with Wenders’ feedback, arguing that filmmaking and politics can’t be separated.

“Just as the festival has made clear statements in the past about atrocities carried out against people in Iran and Ukraine, we call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel’s genocide,” the letter provides.

The signatories took exception not solely to the Berlinale’s stance on Gaza, but in addition “the German state’s key role in enabling” Israel’s actions.

The pageant has been hit by controversy over Gaza a number of instances lately.

When requested about Germany’s assist for Israel at a press convention on Thursday, Wenders mentioned filmmakers had “to stay out of politics”.

“We have to do the work of people, not the work of politicians,” he mentioned.

Fellow jury member Ewa Puszczynska mentioned it was a “little bit unfair” to anticipate the jury to take a direct stance on the difficulty.

Their feedback had already sparked a backlash. Award-winning Indian novelist Arundhati Roy cancelled a deliberate look on the pageant, saying she was “shocked and disgusted” on the jury members’ feedback.

On Saturday, the Berlinale put out an announcement defending Wenders from the “media storm”, indicating that his remarks had been taken out of context.

Festival director Tricia Tuttle mentioned that artists “are free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose” and shouldn’t “be expected to speak on every political issue raised to them unless they want to”.

In 2024, the pageant’s documentary award went to “No Other Land”, which follows the dispossession of Palestinian communities within the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

German authorities officers criticized “one-sided” remarks about Gaza by the administrators of that movie and others at that yr’s awards ceremony.

The conflict in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on Israel, which resulted within the deaths of 1,221 individuals, in accordance with an AFP tally primarily based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliation has left no less than 71,000 individuals lifeless in Gaza, in accordance with the well being ministry within the Hamas-run territory, whose figures the United Nations considers dependable.

© 2026 AFP

Wearing an impeccable blue go well with, Daniel Armella steps into the highlight to obtain an Oscar-shaped statuette.

Except that as an alternative of being lined in gold, this trophy for Hollywood’s finest extras is product of plastic.

It is a minor element for Armella, a background actor within the crime collection “High Potential” who’s as excited to get the nod as a film star receiving an Academy Award.

“Wow! This is my third nomination, I was kind of feeling like a Leonardo DiCaprio stand-in,” he mentioned, referring to the Hollywood star’s lengthy look forward to his Oscar.

Welcome to the eighth Annual Background Actors Awards, a ceremony held Sunday in parallel with Hollywood’s glitzy award season — however for these nameless individuals who fill your screens daily.

Without uttering a phrase, they painting the nurses bustling behind medical doctors within the hit collection “The Pitt,” the brokers guarding a criminal offense scene in “NCIS” or, like Armella, work as “stand-ins” for stars.

“We’re not just props that eat, we are people who are actually there and make the scene worthwhile,” mentioned the occasion’s founder, Vincent Amaya. “We are needed and without us, everything would look like crap.”

Since 2018, he has been organizing this gala for these typically ignored leisure business staff in Los Angeles.

The winners are awarded a “Blurry” — the casual nickname for the awards given to those performers, who typically ply their craft within the background.

The night follows the format of Hollywood’s higher-profile ceremonies, although with much less glam.

Sequined attire combine with easy denims, and tuxedos are typically worn with work boots.

A dozen awards are introduced, together with “Best First Responder Look” and the highest class, “Best Background Actor Ensemble.”

This 12 months, that award went to “High Potential,” a present starring Kaitlin Olson as a high-IQ single mom who helps the Los Angeles Police Department clear up crimes.

The jury is made up of about 40 members, every with a mean of 20 years of expertise, who’re liable for evaluating the nominees’ appearances on display.

“Background actors are like ninjas, and only ninjas can determine who else is a good ninja,” Amaya advised AFP.

Amaya, who’s used to taking part in small roles, desires higher recognition for extras, to match the awards now given to others who have been as soon as within the background, like stunt performers and casting administrators.

And he has ideas on the time period “extra.”

“Calling us extras makes it sound like we’re additional, or we’re not needed,” he mentioned. “But we are needed and our profession should be recognized.”

Specifically, he desires a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame to collectively honor all background actors, as many desire to be known as.

Kyle Humphrey, who works on “High Potential,” mentioned the Blurries are “a baby step towards that.”

Humphrey factors out the onerous work that goes into the job.

“The hours are incredibly long. You need to have stamina and be ready to sometimes shoot outside in the freezing cold or in the rain,” she mentioned, after coming off a 14-hour day of filming.

“Background actors work just as hard as all of the main actors do,” mentioned Humphrey, who sometimes doubles for Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.

Like many within the room, she is aware of she is likely one of the fortunate ones who continues to be working.

Between the pandemic, the 2023 strikes that bolstered a pattern for studios to relocate manufacturing, and final 12 months’s wildfires, the business in Los Angeles has gone by means of some darkish years.

The actors’ strike notched an settlement that protects unionized background staff from the unauthorized replication of their picture by synthetic intelligence. But they know that many producers dream of changing them with the expertise.

The look within the fall of Tilly Norwood, an “actress” created fully by AI, has bolstered these fears.

“This is coming like a tsunami and we are the first people on the battle line,” mentioned Sherry Brown, a background actor.

Awarded for her function as a stand-in within the sitcom “Leanne,” she has acquired provides for movies that will pay extra — on the situation that she conform to have her physique scanned to coach an AI.

“I said no, but when you do that, you don’t get the job,” she mentioned. “And it only takes them a few people who say ‘yes’ to bury us.”

© 2026 AFP