What did Wim Wenders really mean by saying filmmakers should stay out of politics?

Can a filmmaker be political? This is a question that sometimes draws much disagreement. Wim Wenders, a noted filmmaker, similarly found himself in such a situation.

As a jury president earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival, he plainly said, “We have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics."

Then he added, “But we are the counterweight of politics; we are the opposite of politics. We have to do the work of people, not the work of politicians.”

His comments courted controversy because they came against the backdrop of politically charged environments over I.C.E. raids in the U.S. and a war in the Middle East.

But now, at the Venice Film Festival, Wenders has the chance to provide clarification.

In his words, his previous remarks were misinterpreted.

“What I said then was, as filmmakers, we are the opposite of politicians. We have empathy. Politics work without empathy; that’s all I said,” he reflected on.

“We have a very different thing. I’m not working with a mindset of politicians; we are working with a mindset of empathetic people."

"And we are into changing things; politics are into confirming what is," Wenders shared.

Venice Film Festival runs from September 2 to 12.