Protest Under Pressure 2026

1h 20min Directors: Nora Weise, Elena Avolio

Over the past two years, German universities have become sites of resistance for students in solidarity with Palestine. Campuses have bee marked by police violence, court proceedings, intimidation, and growing forms of (self-)censorship. Set at the Free University of Berlin, this documentary traces how academic spaces have been reshaped by state repression. The film centers the brutal eviction of the Palestine solidarity encampment in May 2024 and the cascade of events that followed: a media smear campaign, institutional threats, legal repercussions, and mounting interference with academic freedom. These developments are situated within a wider political framework—Germany’s “reason of state”—and examined in relation to the country’s role in the ongoing occupation and genocide in Palestine.