Filmmaker Wim Wenders has moved to clarify comments he made at the Berlin Film Festival in February, when a remark suggesting filmmakers "should stay out of politics" sparked a prolonged controversy across the event. Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, where he is presenting his documentary "From Inside Out — The Architecture of Peter Zumthor," Wenders said he had been misquoted and insisted his point was about mindset rather than disengagement: that filmmakers operate with empathy, unlike politicians, and are therefore the "opposite" of political actors rather than people who should avoid political subjects altogether.

At February's Berlinale, Wenders's original comments as jury president dominated press conferences, with questions on the Gaza conflict and US immigration raids repeatedly put to attendees; author Arundhati Roy withdrew from the festival in protest and director Tricia Tuttle issued a statement to address the backlash. In Venice, Wenders reiterated that filmmakers work with "a different set of rules" driven by empathy and a desire to change things, describing them as "the antidote" to politics rather than politicians' counterparts. His remarks followed comments from Venice jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal, who argued films are "fundamentally, undeniably political" and rooted in empathy.