Berlinale 2026  "Chronicles from the Siege": Between Cinema and Politics at the Berlinale

The 76th Berlinale experienced a decidedly political closing evening, during which the award winners addressed their positions on political and humanitarian issues worldwide, including those in Iran, Turkey, Palestine, Ukraine, and other countries. Among them was Abdallah Alkhatib, whose film "Chronicle from the Siege" was awarded Best First Feature. This also brought to a close the debate about how political filmmaking and the Berlinale should be, a debate that had overshadowed the festival since its opening day.

In particular, the statement by jury president Wim Wenders, which contradicted the Berlinale's long-standing reputation as the world's most politically engaged film festival, had provoked mixed reactions since the start of the Berlinale. Most of the festival’s winners made their views clear: there is no separation between cinema and politics, even when an artist chooses not to be political. This sentiment was echoed in the speeches of several directors, including Lebanese director Marie-Rose Osta, whose “Someday a child” won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film; Turkish director Emin Alper, winner of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize for “Salvation”; and Canadian director Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, whose “Nina Roza” won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay.

However, the most politically charged—and in the view of some, the most daring—speech of the evening was delivered by Abdallah Alkhatib, a Palestinian filmmaker living in Germany, whose film “Chronicles from the Siege” won the Berlinale’s Best First Feature award. Alkhatib criticized the German government and its stance on Israel’s violence in Gaza and shared his views on Palestine. His impassioned words divided the audience at the Berlinale Palast. Some praised his courage in criticizing the country where he lives as a political refugee, while others rejected his speech as excessively hostile. Alkhatib’s words, and the overall content of the awards ceremony, will undoubtedly fuel heated debate in the media and the international film press over the coming days. What is important, however, is that it underscores the Berlinale’s significance as a space for dissent—which doesn’t always have to be expressed calmly—and for every artist to express their position and view of the world without censorship or restrictions.

I would now like to discuss in more detail the feature film "Chronicle from the Siege", which was awarded Best First Feature at this year's Berlinale, and what makes it special.

The paradox of ambivalence

What is striking about “Chronicles of the Siege” is that despite its director’s outspoken statements, the film itself does not specify the location of the events it relates. It deliberately avoids explaining the nature and source of the siege in question, leaving this to the interpretation of the audience. After all, everyone implicitly understands that it refers to the Gaza Strip, with some artistic liberty to depart from the precise details of that reality. Moreover, the film aims to express the universality of human suffering under siege, regardless of when or where it takes place and who is party to the conflict. Whenever a group of people are trapped in a closed space and deprived of their normal lives, this is bound to produce a mixture of pain, madness, despair, and the pursuit of hope—a fleeting pleasure that may be their last.

Alkhatib’s anthology comprises five chapters, each narrating a human experience under siege. The chapters vary in type and tone, beginning with a psychological drama about collapse, then questioning the concept of heritage and its importance when the present and future seem like mere delusions. Next, there is an exploration of pleasure and the enjoyment of what might be the last pleasure in one’s life, through two stories: one intensely cruel; and one that verges on comedy, given the contrast between the situation (a young man and woman wanting to have sex) and the catastrophic circumstances surrounding them. The film culminates in a final chapter, in which the characters’ fates converge in a tense situation at a makeshift hospital, where staff struggle to provide the bare minimum of medical services to the influx of patients.

Of memories, longing for joy and hope

As with any anthology comprised of several stories, the viewer naturally draws comparisons between the chapters of “Chronicles from the Siege,” favouring some over others. For example, I found that the decision to begin with a psychological drama about a filmmaker’s transformation into a near-madman made it harder to get into the film in general, especially given the differences in pacing and tone between the chapters. Chapters Four and Five were by far the best. The fourth stands out for its lightheartedness and its grasp of the reality that humans can adapt to the worst conditions, remaining able to pursue pleasure at any time. The fifth was marked by its tight rhythm and dramatic expression of how crucial decisions are made under pressure. This allows the work to achieve every film’s aspiration: that its final chapters are its most powerful.

Everything in “Chronicles from the a Siege” is underpinned by a thought-provoking paradox: all the characters live in a catastrophic situation in which every moment seems like their last, yet they never relinquish that which connects them to their humanity, such as reflecting on the value of memory, the desire for enjoyment, and the hope that their children’s future will be better than their parents’ present. Each of them is fighting a battle for survival, refusing to acknowledge its futility or consider it a foregone conclusion, because the victory of any siege lies in its ability to convince its victims that there is no future, and that their lives will end here and now.

Abdullah Alkhatib’s film refuses to succumb to this notion. Instead, he has created a work perfectly suited to the zeitgeist, perhaps having benefited from the excitement surrounding the festival—or the buzz the Berlinale generates around itself. The film may not be of perfect quality, with its disparate chapters and the fact that it was clearly made on a modest budget. Yet it is far from lacking honesty and timeliness, even if its director refrained from naming the location of the siege.

February 2026