Berlin Film Festival Kicks Off Under New Leadership, Tilda Swinton Gives Fiery Political Speech: “The Inhumane Is Being Perpetrated On Our Watch”

deadline.com:

Cinema took over a snowy German capital this evening as the 2025 Berlin Film Festival officially kicked off with a breezy opening ceremony at the Berlinale Palast Theater.

The ceremony was much shorter than previous editions, with the bulk of the evening serving as the presentation of this year’s Honorary Bear for career achievement, which was handed to veteran actor Tilda Swinton.

German filmmaker Edward Berger presented Swinton the award and she gave an impassioned, political speech to the audience inside the Palast. “The inhumane is being perpetrated on our watch,” Swinton began her speech. “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.” Swinton did not name any politicians or specific conflicts but appeared to criticize U.S.

president Donald Trump, telling the Berlinale audience that she is a resident of the theoretical “independent state of cinema” where inclusivity is paramount and “efforts of occupation, colonization, takeover, ownership or the development of Riviera property” are shunned.