Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) expressed strong criticism of the event. “What happened yesterday at the Berlinale was an intolerable relativization.
Anti-Semitism has no place in Berlin, and that also applies to the art scene,” he wrote on Sunday. At the gala, which was characterized by political messages, a documentary won the most important prize, the Golden Bear, for the second time in a row. The Berlinale has always been considered the most political of the world's largest film festivals.