Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin

The Berlinale is one of the largest public film festivals in the world! Unlike Cannes, for example, Berlin's cinemas are opened to the public. Since the tickets are sold out quickly, we have collected the best films of recent years for you!
Show more
  • Kiddo

    Kiddo

    Drama, Kids & Family

    2024

    1h.31min

    12

    In this Hollywood-style mother-daughter road trip east, the two try to get closer to their dream.


  • The Devil, Probably

    The Devil, Probably

    Classics

    1977

    1h.36min

    16 FSK

    A group of disillusioned young Parisians look for satisfaction in political activism, religion, romance, music, and drugs.


  • Storm

    Storm

    Drama

    2009

    1h.45min

    12 FSK

    The war crimes tribunal in The Hague is fighting with itself and war criminals from the former Yugoslavia.


  • And Along Come Tourists

    And Along Come Tourists

    Drama, Independent

    2007

    1h.25min

    0 FSK

    In the shadow of Auschwitz, a touching story of reconciliation takes place between a young German and a concentration camp survivor.


  • The Wondrous World of Laundry

    The Wondrous World of Laundry

    Documentary

    2009

    1h.36min

    12 FSK

    A look behind the scenes: This documentary reveals the hidden efforts and globalized processes behind clean hotel linen.


  • In the Shadows

    In the Shadows

    Crime, Thriller

    2010

    1h.25min

    12 FSK

    In part 1 of Thomas Arslan's Trojan trilogy, the eponymous protagonist Trojan wants to do one last big thing and retire.


  • Body

    Body

    Drama

    2015

    1h.32min

    12 FSK

    Olga, who is grieving for her mother and also anorexic, is sent to a psychiatrist who is dealing with her own losses in an unusual way.


  • Mother, I Am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You.

    Mother, I Am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You.

    Documentary, Independent

    2019

    1h.16min

    16+

    A visually stunning journey through love, loss and legacy, as directed by the acclaimed Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese.


  • Will My Parents Come to See Me

    Will My Parents Come to See Me

    Drama

    2022

    28min

    16+

    With destabilising gentleness, Mo Harawe recounts the last hours of the terrorist Farah before his execution.


  • Klondike

    Klondike

    Drama, Action & Adventure

    2022

    1h.40min

    16+

    A gripping film by Ukraine's Maryna Er Gorbach about the tragic events of the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014.


  • We, Students!

    We, Students!

    Documentary

    2022

    1h.23min

    16+

    Rafiki Fariala's debut explores student life in Bangui, revealing hopes amid challenges in the Central African Republic.


  • A Fish Swimming Upside Down

    A Fish Swimming Upside Down

    Drama

    2020

    1h.43min

    16+

    In a tense love triangle, a woman's presence stirs dark desires and complex emotions in a father and son, challenging moral norms.


  • Dreams of the City

    Dreams of the City

    Drama

    1984

    2h.3min

    16+

    A poignant tale of lost innocence, young Dib navigates the tumultuous landscape of 1950s Damascus following his father's death.


  • Janine F.

    Janine F.

    Documentary, Independent

    2004

    1h.20min

    16+

    The tragic story of an artist who was torn between passion and obsession and died under mysterious circumstances.


  • My Wonderful West Berlin

    My Wonderful West Berlin

    Documentary, Queer

    2017

    1h.38min

    16 FSK

    Romy Haag, Rosa von Praunheim, Ades Zabel and Udo Walz talk about their fascination with the dream destination West Berlin.


  • The Death of My Mother

    The Death of My Mother

    Documentary, Thriller

    2022

    2h.15min

    12 FSK

    In her moving feature film, Jessica Krummacher tells the story of dying without fear of contact, just as it happens in reality.


  • Im Spinnwebhaus

    Im Spinnwebhaus

    Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

    2015

    1h.31min

    12 FSK

    Reality and fantasy are interwoven in this fascinating drama about three children in a mystical world of isolation.


  • Brother's Keeper

    Brother's Keeper

    Drama

    2021

    1h.25min

    16+

    A provincial boarding school for Kurdish boys becomes the flashpoint of a society riddled with power imbalances.


  • Burning Beds

    Burning Beds

    Comedy, Romance

    1988

    1h.23min

    12 FSK

    Hamburg's housing shortage forces car inspector Gina and British pyromaniac Harry to move into the same apartment.


  • Ain't Nothin' Without You

    Ain't Nothin' Without You

    Comedy

    1985

    1h.28min

    12 FSK

    The German realities of the 80s, spontaneously captured with sarcastic wit and occasionally parodied to the point of absurdity.


  • Never Sleep Again

    Never Sleep Again

    Drama

    1992

    1h.32min

    12 FSK

    After a wedding party, three friends from Hamburg are stranded Berlin. A fast-paced odyssey through the urban wasteland of this once divided city.


  • Fogaréu

    Fogaréu

    Drama, Queer

    2022

    1h.40min

    16+

    In her surreal and fantastic debut, Flávia Neves masterfully combines the search for her own origins with Brazil's colonial past.


  • Inertia

    Inertia

    Drama, Independent

    2015

    1h.12min

    16+

    Dreamlike, Israeli indie film about a woman whose nightmare turns into a hopeful sense of autonomy.


  • Duologue

    Duologue

    Documentary, Comedy

    2016

    4min

    0 FSK

    The German Angst of the unknown - a reluctant dialogue.


  • Forces

    Forces

    Drama

    2023

    2h.28min

    12 FSK

    Under the crushing emotional burden of his terminally ill father and violent brother, 14-year-old Daniel seeks refuge with two outcasts.


  • That Kind of Summer

    That Kind of Summer

    Drama, Love & Sex

    2022

    2h.17min

    16+

    In this Berlinale Golden Bear contender film, three hypersexual women are spending 26 days in a quiet house by the lake.


  • Gisela

    Gisela

    Drama, Love & Sex

    2005

    1h.30min

    16 FSK

    Authentic, haphazard and unromantic, three residents of a high-rise housing estate search for love, friendship and sexuality.


  • The Grass is Greener Everywhere Else

    The Grass is Greener Everywhere Else

    Drama, Romance

    1989

    1h.18min

    12 FSK

    Either the grass is greener, or the houses are bigger, or the sun is warmer ... anywhere else is better.


  • Divine Love

    Divine Love

    Drama, Romance

    2019

    1h.41min

    16+

    Brazil, 2027: Joana is deeply religious. At work, she encourages divorcing couples to reconsider their breakup.


  • Hotline

    Hotline

    Documentary

    2015

    1h.39min

    16+

    Intensely charged in political terms, HOTLINE is not merely revealing but downright shocking in what it conveys about Israel’s policies on outsiders.


  • Welcome to the Dollhouse

    Welcome to the Dollhouse

    Comedy, Drama

    1996

    1h.28min

    16+

    Todd Solondz's key film of the 90s and Sundance winner manages the balancing act between coming-of-age and social criticism with sublime radicalism.


  • Talk Straight – The World of Rural Queers

    Talk Straight – The World of Rural Queers

    Independent, Queer

    2003

    1h.39min

    12 FSK

    How is life as a gay in the Swabian province? An intimate insight into a hitherto unknown terrain between church and Stammtisch.


  • Out in East Berlin

    Out in East Berlin

    Documentary, Queer

    2013

    1h.34min

    12 FSK

    In the documentary, which was successfully screened in the Panorama section of the Berlinale, gays and lesbians from the former GDR have their say.


  • We Are Mari Pepa

    We Are Mari Pepa

    Drama, Comedy

    2013

    1h.35min

    16+

    Schools out for ever! 4 teenagers from Guadalajara are about to enter adult life, as they live through a summer that will change their lives forever.


  • Castanha

    Castanha

    Drama, Queer

    2014

    1h.35min

    16+

    João Carlos Castanha. 52 years old. Actor. Gay. Son. Crossdresser. Capable of doing anything for those he loves. Or hates.


  • Menmaniacs - The Legacy of Leather

    Menmaniacs - The Legacy of Leather

    Classics, Queer

    1994

    1h.26min

    16 FSK

    An intense trip into the gay bondage and leather scene: We meet contestants, bondage film actors, uniform fetishists and long-term slaves.


  • Girl Asleep

    Girl Asleep

    Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

    2015

    1h.17min

    16+

    A socially awkward teen falls asleep at her disastrous and unwanted 15th birthday party and enters a fantasy world.


  • Necktie Youth

    Necktie Youth

    Drama

    2015

    1h.26min

    16+

    At pool parties in the richest part of South Africa, the post-apartheid dreams of an entire generation perish in a drug-fueled dystopia.


  • News from Planet Mars

    News from Planet Mars

    Comedy

    2016

    1h.41min

    16+

    In this very compelling comedy, a father reaches the boundaries of his good will and is in danger of falling prey to insanity.


  • Welcome to the Dome

    Welcome to the Dome

    Documentary, Queer

    1992

    15min

    0 FSK

    During the final prayer of the German Catholic Bishops' Conference in 1991, one of the most spectacular protest actions takes place.


  • Stop-Zemlia

    Stop-Zemlia

    Drama, Queer

    2022

    2h.2min

    12 FSK

    Delightfully light-hearted and wonderfully honest coming-of-age story that flows seamlessly between fiction to documentary.


  • Thirty

    Thirty

    Drama, Independent

    2019

    1h.54min

    16+

    A senistive drama that authentically and lovingly captures the lifestyle of a group of young urbanites on the brink of a quarter-life crisis.


  • Bungalow

    Bungalow

    Drama, Independent

    2002

    1h.24min

    12 FSK

    The Bundeswehr is looking for him, his girlfriend Kerstin breaks up with him, and unexpectedly his older brother Max shows up


  • Queens Don’t Cry

    Queens Don’t Cry

    Documentary, Queer

    2002

    1h.29min

    16 FSK

    The groundbreaking members of the legendary Berlin club SchwuZ talk about their career, political activism in drag, and 'doing it' for the first time.


  • Abnormal Family

    Abnormal Family

    Comedy, Love & Sex

    1984

    1h.2min

    18 FSK

    This erotic comedy is both a critique of the Japanese family image and a sexually playful homage to Japanese director Ozu Yasujirô.


  • Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.

    Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.

    Music, Dance, Theater, Documentary

    2018

    1h.36min

    16+

    Unparalleled, intimate profile of the critically acclaimed artist M.I.A. that chronicles her remarkable journey from refugee immigrant to pop star.


  • Easy Love

    Easy Love

    Documentary, Love & Sex

    2019

    1h.28min

    16 FSK

    In a successful semi-documentary mix, EASY LOVE tells of crises, moments of happiness, doubts, sex, and unconventional relationship models.


  • Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands

    Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands

    Crime, Love & Sex

    1967

    1h.26min

    16+

    This style-setting iconic film by Japan's pink film movement offers an experimental mix of genres about gender roles, violence, and obsession.


  • Orphea

    Orphea

    Music, Dance, Theater, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

    2021

    1h.39min

    12 FSK

    Alexander Kluge and the multi-media artist Khavn revive the Orpheus myth and use it as a starting point for a true revolution.


  • Gushing Prayer: A 15-Year-Old Prostitute

    Gushing Prayer: A 15-Year-Old Prostitute

    Drama

    1971

    1h.13min

    16 FSK

    A mesmerizing poetic narrative about a group of teenagers navigating the confusing world of sexuality, desire, conformity and capitalism.


  • Fluidø

    Fluidø

    Love & Sex, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

    2017

    1h.17min

    18 FSK

    A post-porn multimedia artwork of bodily fluids that challenges gender norms.


  • Silence = Death

    Silence = Death

    Documentary, Queer

    1990

    55min

    16 FSK

    Part 1 of the groundbreaking Rosa von Praunheim documentary trilogy on the AIDS epidemic


  • Life Is Like a Cucumber

    Life Is Like a Cucumber

    Biography, Drama

    1990

    1h.27min

    12 FSK

    Lotti Huber, the 77-year-old singer, dancer and actress brimming with the spirit of life, tells of her eventful life in this semi-documenary film.


  • Survival in New York

    Survival in New York

    Documentary, Independent

    1990

    1h.30min

    16 FSK

    Three German women go to New York City in the early 1980's and try to get established there.


  • Positive

    Positive

    Documentary, Queer

    1990

    1h.16min

    16+

    Part 2 of the groundbreaking Rosa von Praunheim documentary trilogy on the AIDS epidemic.


  • Rent Boys

    Rent Boys

    Documentary, Queer

    2011

    1h.23min

    12 FSK

    This authentic documentary follows male sex workers from Bahnhof Zoo in Berlin as they work, shedding light on the issue of male prostitution.


  • The One Man Village

    The One Man Village

    Documentary, Independent

    2008

    1h.25min

    16+

    The merciless fighting between militias in the region around Mount Lebanon ended in reprisals against civilians.


  • The Gulls

    The Gulls

    Drama

    2015

    1h.27min

    16+

    Elza lives in a small town on the Caspian Sea. While her husband catches fish illegally, she dreams of breaking out of her small world.


  • Away You Go

    Away You Go

    Drama, Independent

    2018

    1h.16min

    6 FSK

    Compassionate mumblecore-style drama about a young woman's struggles with the expectations placed on her by her partner and friends.


  • A Maid for Each

    A Maid for Each

    Documentary, Independent

    2016

    1h.7min

    16+

    This harrowing documentary exposes the inhumane working conditions of foreign domestic workers in Lebanon that resemble modern-day slavery.


  • Our Defeats

    Our Defeats

    Documentary

    2019

    1h.28min

    16+

    Jean-Gabriel Périot asks students on the outskirts of Paris to reenact iconic films from the '68 era and share their thoughts.


  • Devil’s Freedom

    Devil’s Freedom

    Documentary

    2017

    1h.14min

    16+

    In one of the most dangerous countries in the world, a life is not worth much. Victims and perpetrators of the Mexican drug war tell their stories.


  • Pig

    Pig

    Drama, Comedy

    2018

    1h.48min

    16+

    Filmmaker Hasan is seething with rage. He is banned from working and a serial killer is killing all the other directors in town. All except Hasan.


  • Under Electric Clouds

    Under Electric Clouds

    Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

    2015

    2h.12min

    16+

    This episode film explores Russia's state of mind, which is characterized by disorientation, in a dystopian vision of the future.


  • Concerning Violence

    Concerning Violence

    Documentary

    2013

    1h.15min

    12 FSK

    This doc is based on newly discovered, powerful archival material documenting the most daring moments in the struggle for liberation in the Africa.


  • Flesh Out

    Flesh Out

    Drama

    2019

    1h.34min

    16+

    A young woman in Mauritania, is forced to gain weight to meet traditional beauty standards before her upcoming wedding.


  • Roland Klick: The Heart Is a Hungry Hunter

    Roland Klick: The Heart Is a Hungry Hunter

    Biography, Documentary

    2013

    1h.19min

    12 FSK

    Roland Klick is a film history legend. He made movies with Mario Adorf and Dennis Hopper, then mysteriously faded away after only six films.


  • She's Lost Control

    She's Lost Control

    Drama, Love & Sex

    2014

    1h.30min

    16+

    Ronah is a sex worker and behavioral psychology student. As a surrogate partner, she sleeps with patients who have trouble allowing intimacy.


  • Parabeton: Pier Luigi Nervi and Roman Concrete

    Parabeton: Pier Luigi Nervi and Roman Concrete

    Documentary, Icons & Media Art

    2012

    1h.39min

    0 FSK

    PARABETON shows in chronological sequence 17 buildings by the Italian engineer and architect Pier Luigi Nervi (1891-1979) in Italy and France.


  • The Bomb

    The Bomb

    Documentary, Icons & Media Art

    2015

    1h.0min

    16+

    This visually stunning monumental work is an emphatic reminder of the enduring threat of total annihilation by nuclear weapons.


  • Upstream Color

    Upstream Color

    Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

    2013

    1h.36min

    16+

    The film begins with a man called 'Thief' who is harvesting a type of larva for the bizarre effects it has on the human mind.


  • Madeline's Madeline

    Madeline's Madeline

    Drama, Independent

    2018

    1h.33min

    16+

    Madeline is teenager who loves to act on stage. She fights with her mother and suffers from a illness which makes her believe she's a cat.


  • Sow the Wind

    Sow the Wind

    Drama

    2020

    1h.32min

    16+

    A young Italian student of agriculture wants to save her family's olive trees from pollution, parasite infestation, and corruption.


  • Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets

    Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets

    Drama, Independent

    2020

    1h.38min

    16+

    The last round in Sin City. In the shadow of Las Vegas, filmmakers spend the last 24 hours before they close the Roaring 20s bar.


  • Windows on Monday

    Windows on Monday

    Drama

    2006

    1h.32min

    12 FSK

    A new house in a new town could mean the beginning of a phase of domestic bliss for a small family. But the young mother collapses under the burden.


  • E.K.G. Expositus (the public and the artistic media)

    E.K.G. Expositus (the public and the artistic media)

    Biography, Icons & Media Art

    2004

    1h.41min

    16+

    A hospital in Berlin-Neukölln at midnight. A patient is being admitted. TV journalists are on the scene. The beginning of a story that tells itself.


  • Metamorphoses

    Metamorphoses

    Documentary, Icons & Media Art

    2013

    1h.24min

    16+

    On the river Tetscha in the southern Urals, in the middle of nowhere between Europe and Asia, is the most radioactively contaminated area in the world


  • The Notes of Anna Azzori / A Mirror that Travels through Time

    The Notes of Anna Azzori / A Mirror that Travels through Time

    Documentary, Icons & Media Art

    2020

    1h.12min

    16+

    Can a documentary depict reality? Should it even try? Constanze Ruhm examines how reality and the construction of reality are different.


  • Our Mothers

    Our Mothers

    Drama

    2019

    1h.16min

    16+

    Guatemala, 2018. The whole country is immersed in the trial of the soldiers who sparked the civil war.


  • Reported Missing

    Reported Missing

    Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thriller

    2012

    1h.27min

    12 FSK

    A reactor safety engineer follows the trail of his disappearing daughter through the Kafkaesque West German province.


  • Madonnas

    Madonnas

    Drama

    2007

    2h.0min

    12 FSK

    "MADONNAS paints the astonishingly differentiated picture of a young woman who neglects her children." (taz)


  • Music and Apocalypse

    Music and Apocalypse

    Comedy

    2019

    1h.20min

    0 FSK

    A bitter satire on the university business and its evaluation madness and third-party funding stupidity.


  • Daughters

    Daughters

    Drama

    2014

    1h.38min

    12 FSK

    In search of her daughter, Agnes meets a bon vivant in the juggernaut that is Berlin.


  • For Nothing

    For Nothing

    Drama

    2014

    1h.35min

    0 FSK

    A political and sociological look at the transformation and gentrification of Berlin through teenage eyes.


  • The Prize

    The Prize

    Drama

    2012

    1h.24min

    6 FSK

    The modernization of post-war style apartment blocks in central Germany becomes a journey into his own GDR past for architect Alexander.


  • Afternoon

    Afternoon

    Drama

    2007

    1h.35min

    6 FSK

    On 3 summer afternoons, a family meets up a beautiful house in an upscale Berlin neighborhood. They come together but ultimately drift further apart.


  • Vacation

    Vacation

    Drama

    2007

    1h.32min

    0 FSK

    Jealousy and biting jokes about old wounds start slowly, but build until bald-face confessions and hand-to-hand scuffles take over.


  • Turn Down The Music

    Turn Down The Music

    Drama

    1994

    1h.24min

    16+

    In his debut film Thomas Arslan portrays a group of young people in a decisive phase of upheaval: the last days right before their school year end.


  • A Fine Day

    A Fine Day

    Drama

    2001

    1h.14min

    0 FSK

    Deniz, 21 works as a dubbing artist and has just ended her relationship with Jan. In one short day, she goes through a separation and a new beginning.


  • Dealer

    Dealer

    Crime, Drama

    1999

    1h.12min

    16+

    Life is governed by strict laws. If you don't want to fall out of favor with your backers as a dealer, you can't be seen with plainclothes cops.


  • Fassbinder: Love Without Demands

    Fassbinder: Love Without Demands

    Biography, Documentary

    2015

    1h.47min

    16+

    Rainer Werner Fassbinder has never been shown with such openness and introspection.


  • Asta Upset

    Asta Upset

    Icons & Media Art, Independent

    2014

    1h.24min

    0 FSK

    A curator of contemporary art, is in trouble with her sponsors because of remarks she made in a radio interview. Public funding is put on hold.


  • The Pigeon

    The Pigeon

    Drama

    2018

    1h.16min

    16+

    A bittersweet drama about bird-loving Yusuf facing the loss of his little paradise on the rooftops of Adana.


  • African Mirror

    African Mirror

    Documentary

    2019

    1h.26min

    12

    The European self-image, the colonial gaze and the concept of 'noble savages': for decades, René Gardi (1909-2000) shaped our colonial image of Africa


  • Loverfilm

    Loverfilm

    Icons & Media Art, Queer

    1997

    22min

    16+

    Berlin filmmaker Michael Brynntrup exposes his own sex life in a radical, relentless yet humorous invasion of privacy.


  • Keep Moving

    Keep Moving

    Documentary, Music, Dance, Theater

    2021

    2h.19min

    16+

    Stay or go? In the year before the fall of the Wall, a group of dancers have to decide whether to stay in the GDR or flee to the West.


  • Maelström

    Maelström

    Drama, Classics

    2000

    1h.26min

    16+

    After completing MAELSTRÖM, Denis Villeneuve (Dune, THE 32nd AUGUST ON EARTH) retired for nearly a decade.


  • Sex: Speak

    Sex: Speak

    Documentary, Love & Sex

    2015

    1h.20min

    16 FSK

    Sex is the most beautiful thing in the world. But talking about it without straying into lasciviousness or becoming inhibited remains tricky.


  • Vulva 3.0

    Vulva 3.0

    Documentary, Love & Sex

    2014

    1h.19min

    16 FSK

    A doc about the representation and optimization of the vulva, anatomical myths, circumcisions, censorship and intimate modifications.


  • Two Mothers

    Two Mothers

    Drama, Queer

    2013

    1h.15min

    12 FSK

    Katja and Isabella want a child together - but the practical, legal and emotional hurdles threaten to drive the couple apart.