Berlin Film Festival Kicks Off During Bitterly Cold Snowstorm With Fiery Speeches as Tilda Swinton Mocks Trump’s Plans for ‘Riviera Property’

variety.com:

Berlin Film Festival launched with some heat — thanks to fiery speeches about politics — as film executives, European buyers and movie stars trekked through the slush to celebrate cinema.

The prestigious festival in Germany kicked off with Tom Tykwer’s drama “The Light,” starring Lars Eidinger and Nicolette Krebitz as a dysfunctional married couple whose lives change with the hiring of a housekeeper (played by Tala Al-Deen).

But the real fireworks arrived in the form of a tearful speech delivered by Tilda Swinton. The actress, in a glamorous sparkling black coat, talked about the perils of political dictatorships around the world as she accepted an honorary Golden Bear for career achievement.

Swinton lauded the festival as “a borderless realm and with no policy of exclusion, persecution or deportation.” She added that the “great independent state of cinema” is “innately inclusive — immune to efforts of occupation, colonization, takeover, ownership or the development of riviera property,” apparently referring to Trump’s suggestion that Gaza could be made into a resort destination. “The inhumane is being perpetrated on our watch,” she continued. “I’m here to name it without hesitation or doubt in my mind and to lend my unwavering solidarity to all those who recognize the unacceptable complacency of our greed-addicted governments who make nice with planet-wreckers and war criminals, wherever they come from.” Director Todd Haynes, who is serving as president of the Berlin jury, followed up by continuing the political discourse. “We stand up for the freedom of expression and diversity,” he said, pointing to the directors, artists and writers in attendance.