Arundhati Roy is right, not Wim Wenders here are eight films that have changed politics

"Should film festivals be more than just screenings and red carpets? Should they prompt us to think about the role cinema plays in the world? Novelist Arundhati Roy certainly thinks so. She pulled out of the jury at the Berlin festival in protest at jury president Wim Wenders' claim that films should stay out of politics; she said Wenders' stance was unconscionable, and that to hear [him] say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping."

"Wenders had suggested that cinema is a way to build empathy, but not directly change politicians' minds. However this is simply not true. Some films both documentary and narrative have not only changed public opinion about social issues but led directly to legislation. Despite evidence to the contrary, politicians are people too. They can be moved. And sometimes they are even moved to action."

"Sebastian Lelio's 2017 drama about a transgender woman fighting to be accepted by her dead partner's family was a huge success internationally, winning the best foreign language film Oscar. But it was in Chile, where it was filmed and set, that it had the biggest impact. Lelio was invited to the presidential palace by Chile's then-president Michelle Bachelet, who tweeted: It was an honor to have the team of A Fantastic Woman here in La Moneda, the people's house."

Arundhati Roy withdrew from the Berlin festival jury in protest at Wim Wenders' claim that films should stay out of politics, calling the stance unconscionable. Wenders suggested cinema builds empathy but does not directly change politicians' minds. Many films, both documentary and narrative, have changed public opinion on social issues and have led directly to legislation. Sebastian Lelio's A Fantastic Woman prompted Chile's president Michelle Bachelet to host the filmmakers and helped shift the political climate, contributing to passage of a gender identity law stalled in congress. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's A Girl in the River prompted Pakistan's prime minister to pledge legal reform after viewing the film.

Read at www.theguardian.com