Berlinale 2024: A politically charged start for Lupita Nyong'o and her jury

The Berlin Film Festival prides itself on being a political festival, and that reputation was inescapable during this year’s Jury press conference – to the point a palpable tension was in the air by the end of the jury’s time with the accredited press.

Granted, this year has given us the motherload in terms of hot topic issues.

Whether it’s the AfD invitation rescinded, the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Middle East, or the war in Gaza and the looming protests during the festival linked with Israel-Hamas war, this year’s Berlinale is already very political indeed.

During the press conference this morning, Jury President Lupita Nyong’o, joined by American filmmaker/actor Brady Corbet, Chinese director Ann Hui, German director Christian Petzold, Spanish director Albert Serra, Italian actor/director Jasmine Trinca and Ukrainian writer Oksana Zabuzhko, all had questions directed at them on a series of issues that strayed very far from the traditional “On the scale of 1 to 10, how great are you?” fare.

It started off gently enough with Nyong’o being asked what it meant being selected as President of this year’s 74th edition.

“I feel greatly honoured,” said the Academy Award winner. “It’s a chance for me to learn more about the world of cinema and a chance to celebrate it.”

With reference to the festival being a political one, Nyong’o gracefully answered that she was aware of the reputation but was not yet in a position to talk about it.

“I’ve heard that a lot in the last 48 hours. I’m curious to learn what that means, and to see how artists are responding to the world we’re living in right now.”

When asked about her varied jury members and how they would be finding common ground, especially with reference made to a 2018 interview