More than 80 current and former participants of the Berlinale, including Javier Bardem, Tilda Swinton and Adam McKay have signed an open letter condemning the festival’s “silence” on Gaza.

It comes after the film festival was swept up in what it called a “media storm” over the alleged sidelining of political discourse at the event.

The row was triggered by a remark from the jury president, Wim Wenders, in the opening press conference that film-makers “should stay out of politics” in response to questions related to the Israel-Gaza conflict and the German government’s support for Israel.

A backlash, including the withdrawal of Indian author Arundhati Roy from the event, led to festival director, Tricia Tuttle, issuing a statement defending film-makers and actors who were increasingly being pressed on political and societal issues during press conferences.

“Artists are free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose,” Tuttle said. “Artists should not be expected to comment on all broader debates about a festival’s previous or current practices over which they have no control. Nor should they be expected to speak on every political issue raised to them unless they want to.”

But on Tuesday, major figures in the industry accused the Berlinale of “censoring” artists who have spoken out, Variety reported.

The signatories, which also include Angeliki Papoulia, Saleh Bakri, Tatiana Maslany, Peter Mullan and Tobias Menzies, as well as directors Mike Leigh, Lukas Dhont, Nan Goldin, Miguel Gomes and Avi Mograbi, said they “fervently disagree” with Wenders’ views on film-making and politics. “You cannot separate one from another,” they said, adding that the “tide is changing across the international film world”.

They cited the refusal of more than 5,000 film workers, including several major Hollywood names, to work with “complicit Israeli film companies and institutions”. The letter also noted that the Berlinale had made “clear statements” in the past about other “atrocities” including in Ukraine.

“We call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel’s genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Palestinians, and completely end its involvement in shielding Israel from criticism and calls for accountability,” they said.

Politically oriented questions at the Berlinale have dominated headlines and social media over the past week. High-profile guests questioned on political topics, often with limited connection to the films they were promoting, include US actor Neil Patrick Harris – who was asked whether cinema could fight fascism, UK star Rupert Grint – who was also asked about fascism, and Malaysian actor Michelle Yeoh – who was asked for her thoughts on the current state of the US.

Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who co-directed the music documentary The Ballad of Judas Priest, said: “What a time to be alive, where you can both make a documentary about one of your favourite bands and fight fascism at the same time” – to reported applause from the room of journalists.

Tuttle said there were “many different kinds of art, and many different ways of being political”. Film-makers, she said, were being criticised “if they can not compress complex thoughts into a brief soundbite when a microphone is placed in front of them when they thought they were speaking about something else”.