Berlinale 2023: Climate activists glue themselves to red carpet

Climate change activists glue themselves to the red carpet on the day of the opening gala of the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 16, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A man and a woman glued themselves to the red carpet at the opening of Berlin’s film festival on Thursday, calling on the German government and society to take more action to fight climate change.

The two activists glued themselves to the carpet after the arrival of film stars at the Berlinale Palast for the festival’s opening ceremony, featuring a video address by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the premier of She Came To Me, directed by U.S. director Rebecca Miller.

The Last Generation group, which was behind the protest, said the current government and society are the last ones left with a chance of preventing the course to a climate hell with billions of deaths.

“Advertising for sustainability on a small scale, like the Berlinale does, is important, but it will not save us on its own. We need to turn things around now,” Raphael Voellmy, one of the activists, said in a statement.

“If we continue escaping from reality, we will tear the first climate tipping points and unleash a deadly avalanche from which there is no escape,” Lisa Winkelmann, the other activist, said.

A Reuters witness said the protest did not interrupt the festival’s opening ceremony. Berlin Film Festival was not immediately available to comment on the incident.