Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (German: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (German pronunciation: [bɛʁliˈnaːlə] ⓘ), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europe's "Big Three" film festivals alongside the Venice Film Festival held in Italy and the Cannes Film Festival held in France. Furthermore, it is one of the "Big Five", the most prestigious film festivals in the world. The festival regularly draws tens of thousands of visitors each year.
Location
About 400 films are shown at multiple venues across Berlin, mostly in and around Potsdamer Platz. They are screened in nine sections across cinematic genres, with around twenty films competing for the festival's top awards in the Competition section. The major awards, called the Golden Bear and Silver Bears, are decided on by the international jury, chaired by an internationally recognisable cinema personality. This jury and other specialised Berlinale juries also give many other awards, and in addition there are other awards given by independent juries and organisations.
The European Film Market (EFM), a film trade fair held simultaneously to the Berlinale, is a major industry meeting for the international film circuit. The trade fair serves distributors, film buyers, producers, financiers and co-production agents. The Berlinale Talents, a week-long series of lectures and workshops, is a gathering of young filmmakers held in partnership with the festival.
Description and governance[edit]
The Berlinale is considered one of the three major film festivals in the world, alongside the Venice and Cannes,[36][37] and is the largest based on attendance. As of 2020, around 325,000 tickets were sold, and nearly 16,000 film industry professionals from 130 countries attended the festival.[1] It is held in Berlin.[38] It attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year. For the 2022 event, still feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, 156,472 tickets were sold.[39]
About 400 films are shown in several sections across cinematic genres, with around twenty films competing for the festival's top awards, the Golden Bear and Silver Bears.[39]
In 2022, festival was receiving €10.3 million from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. There was consideration given by the federal government to help compensate for revenue lost and additional expenditure owing to the pandemic, with funds drawn from the Neustart Kultur programme.[39]
Since 2019, Mariette Rissenbeek has been the festival's executive director; Carlo Chatrian is its artistic director.[40] In September 2023, it was reported that artistic director Carlo Chatrian will relinquish his post after 2024 Berlinale.[41] On 12 December 2023 it was announced by the German culture ministry that Tricia Tuttle, formerly director of the BFI London Film Festival, will be the sole director of the Berlinale from April 2024.[42]
As of 2024 the festival is composed of eight different sections:[44]
"Perspektive Deutsches Kino" (Perspectives on German Cinema) was created in 2002 by incoming director Dieter Kosslick with Alfred Holighaus[54] This was dropped from 2024 Berlinale due to budget cuts.[41][55]
A section called "Culinary Cinema" had also been introduced by Kosslick in 2007, as well as a series called "NATIVe" (for indigenous filmmakers) in 2013; however, these were dropped after his departure in 2019.[46]
The Theater am Potsdamer Platz, a theatre for musicals which is known as the Berlinale Palast during the festival, is the venue for the premieres of Competition film and several Special Gala films, as well as the opening and awards ceremonies.[82]
The CinemaxX Potsdamer Platz, which has 19 screens, has been the main Berlinale screening cinema since 2000, two years after its opening in 1998.[83]
Other venues for the festival include or have included the following:[84]
Other venues in use as of 2022 include the Akademie der Künste; the Marshall McLuhan Salon at the Canada House; Brotfabrik; City Kino Wedding at the Centre Francais; Deutsche Kinemathek; Eva Lichtspiele; Filmtheater am Friedrichshain; Hebbel am Ufer (HAU); Kino Intimes; Neue Kammerspiele; Passage Kino; SAVVY Contemporary; Silent Green Kulturquartier; Kino Union; and the Zeughauskino (in the Deutsches Historisches Museum).[84]
The World Cinema Fund (WCF) is associated with the Berlinale, and was established to provide financial support to feature film projects in countries with a weak film industry infrastructure.[43][126] It was established by Dieter Kosslick[46] in 2004 to support films "that stand out with an unconventional aesthetic approach, that tell powerful stories and transmit an authentic image of their cultural roots". It awards several projects in various stages of production with funding each year.[127]
The WCF is a collaboration with the Federal Foundation for Culture, and awarded in cooperation with the Goethe Institute, the Foreign Ministry and German producers. It aims "to develop and support cinema in regions with a weak film infrastructure, while fostering cultural diversity in German cinemas", and supports films that could not be made without extra funding. It provides funding for production and distribution of feature films and feature-length documentaries, with a focus on countries in Latin America, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Caucasus, as well as Bangladesh, Nepal, Mongolia, and Sri Lanka.[128]
Films receiving funding from the WCF have included:[128]
