Every movie looks better on the big screen, and Berlin is also home to so many iconic cinemas and filmmakers. From film festivals to special screenings, these are the top upcoming events for all the cinephiles out there, all handed to you on a silver screen!
We order our listings with what’s coming up next at the top. That way, you’ll never miss out.
SEP 1
Best of Cinema: The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Twenty-five years on, The Fast and the Furious roars back onto the big screen. Before the franchise became synonymous with physics-defying stunts, Cohen’s original was much scrappier: a sun-soaked, low-stakes crime thriller built around street racing. Watching it now feels like opening a time capsule to the early 2000s, when DVD players were a luxury, flip phones were cutting edge and Vin Diesel’s definition of ‘family’ was still confined to barbecues rather than saving the world.
Kant Kino, 20:30, details
SEP 1-29
Prenzlauerberginale #10
Celebrating its 10th edition, the Prenzlauerberginale returns to shine a spotlight on the only Berlin district with its own film festival. The month-long programme explores Prenzlauer Berg through feature films, documentaries, television archives and special guest appearances, tracing its evolution from East Berlin enclave to one of the city’s most mythologised areas. It’s a cinematic love letter to a neighbourhood, uncovering the histories and everyday lives that have shaped it. Don’t miss opening night, which pairs Volker Koepp’s rarely screened short ‘Debtor’ with Frank Beyer’s DEFA classic The Hideout. The latter was Manfred Krug’s final DEFA film before leaving East Germany. Star Jutta Hoffmann will be in conversation afterwards with critic Knut Elstermann. That’s worth the ticket price alone.
- Sep 1-29, Filmtheater am Friedrichshain, details
SEP 2-9
Fantasy Filmfest
Fantasy Filmfest brings together the very best in horror, sci-fi, fantasy and cult cinema from around the world. The festival champions bold new voices long before many of these films reach wider audiences – if they ever do. They also showcase established genre favourites. One of the best films ever made (IMO) will make a special appearance: Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now. What a treat to see this masterpiece on the big screen. Forty years on, Fantasy Filmfest continues to prove that some of the year’s most inventive filmmaking is happening at the genre’s edges.
- Sep 2-9, Zoo Palast, details
SEP 5
Screening of Grass with Live Music
Grass (1925) is a pioneering silent documentary that still feels remarkably ambitious a century later. Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack – years before the pair would make King Kong – the film follows the Bakhtiari tribe on their 48-day seasonal migration across Iran’s Zagros Mountains in search of fresh pasture. Along the way, Cooper and Schoedsack became the first Western filmmakers to complete the journey alongside the tribe, capturing footage of more than 50,000 people and hundreds of thousands of animals crossing the icy Karun River and the snow-covered slopes of Zard Kuh. This special screening is accompanied by a live score from acclaimed Iranian composer Peyman Yazdanian. If you think silent cinema isn’t your thing, this might just change your mind.
- Sep 5, Babylon, details
SEP 9-12
POOL 26 – Movement Art Film Festival Berlin
Returning for its 19th edition, POOL – Movement Art Film Festival transforms DOCK 11 over four nights into one of Berlin’s most unique celebrations of dance on screen. Since 2007, the festival has championed films that blur the boundaries between choreography and cinema, showcasing works where movement, the body and the camera become inseparable. This year’s programme is dedicated to pioneering choreographer and performance artist Meg Stuart. A defining figure in contemporary dance since the early 1990s, Stuart’s work has continually dissolved the lines between movement, film and visual art. Across four nights, expect an eclectic programme of international film that pushes choreography beyond the stage and onto the screen in surprising, emotive and experimental ways.
- Sep 9-12, DOCK 11, details
SEP 9-16
filmPOLSKA
For the 21st year, Germany’s largest festival dedicated to Polish film gives us the very best of contemporary Polish cinema alongside restored classics, filmmaker talks and special events. This year’s programme marks the 100th anniversary of the birth and 10th anniversary of the death of Andrzej Wajda. They’ll explore the legendary director’s legacy, not only through his own outstanding work, but also through the filmmakers he mentored and championed. Don’t miss the opening night with the German premiere of Chopin. A Sonata in Paris, Michał Kwieciński’s lavish portrait of the composer’s final years.
- Sep 9-16, various cinemas, details
SEP 10-12
World AI Film Festival
Well, it was bound to happen eventually. Making its Berlin debut, the World AI Film Festival unites filmmakers, artists and technologists to explore one of cinema’s most hotly debated frontiers. Love it, hate it, tin foil hat it, AI is here. The festival positions itself between storytelling and emerging technology, pairing AI-generated and AI-assisted films with keynote talks, workshops and panel discussions, asking not whether artificial intelligence belongs in filmmaking, but how it might reshape it. The programme culminates in an awards ceremony celebrating some of the most innovative AI-powered films from around the world. You can always pop to Babylon afterwards for a revival of something great to remind yourself you’re okay.
- Sep 10-12, Z-Cinema and Cinema Neulich, details
SEP 12-13
Kinofest
If you’ve been meaning to visit one of Berlin’s independent cinemas but never found the excuse, this is the weekend. At €5 per film, it’s one of the cheapest weekends of cinema-going all year. Many Berlin arthouses use the weekend to showcase upcoming releases in a citywide celebration of cinema.
- Sep 12-13, various cinemas, details
SEP 24-OCT 10
Kurdish Film Festival
Returning for its 16th edition, the Kurdish Film Festival Berlin showcases feature films, documentaries and shorts from Kurdish filmmakers across the Middle East and the diaspora. It’s become one of Berlin’s most important platforms for independent Kurdish voices, pairing screenings with conversations, cultural events and discussions that explore identity, memory and resistance. The festival’s Short Film Competition is one of its defining strands. Expect a thoughtful mix of world cinema, documentaries and filmmaker Q&As that rarely make it to Berlin screens outside this week-long celebration.
- Sep 24-Oct 1, Kino Babylon, details
THRU AUG 31
Bundesplatz Kino’s popular summer Jazz Film Series returns this season, with screenings taking place every Sunday at 8pm throughout the summer. Celebrating the enduring relationship between cinema and jazz, the programme opens on June 28 with Ray (2004), Jamie Foxx’s Academy Award-winning portrayal of soul icon Ray Charles. On July 26, the series moves to post-WWII Germany with Hansjürgen Roland’s Tobby (1961). Set against the backdrop of a still-recovering Berlin, the film follows an idealistic young jazz musician determined to pursue artistic integrity rather than commercial success, offering a fascinating glimpse into the city’s early jazz scene. Further screenings will to be announced throughout the summer. The series provides an ideal summer Sunday activity for both jazz enthusiasts and film lovers alike.
- Jul 6-Aug 31, Bundesplatz Kino, details
THROUGH SEP
Berlin’s Open-Air Cinema Season
Open-air cinema season is finally here! Parks, courtyards and former industrial spaces across the city will be turned into open-air screening venues, where the line between filmgoing and nightlife quietly dissolves. It’s one of the city’s most enduring summer rituals: audiences wrapped in blankets long after sunset, beer bottles balanced beside deckchairs, subtitles flickering against concrete walls. What sets Berlin’s Freiluftkino culture apart is its informality. These aren’t simply places where outdoor screenings happen; rather they’re social spaces shaped by neighbourhood identity. Programmes typically range from restored classics and festival favourites to cult films and recent European releases, reflecting Berlin audiences’ appetite for eclectic, multilingual cinema.
- Through September, various locations, details
THRU DEC 1
The always reliable Best of Cinema series highlights cinematic classics in Kant Kino. This summer, the series is treating us to two very different but equally enthralling gems. First up in July is Sean Penn’s melancholic indie film Into The Wild (2007). The film is about a dreamy traveller who sets off on a quest for freedom from the constraints of society, only to realise that it’s the people living in the world who make it what it is. In August, a film which needs no introduction, The Terminator (1984), will grace the screens of Berlin.
- Jul 7-Dec 1 (monthly), Kant Kino, details
- Into The Wild: Jul 7, 20:30
THROUGH DEC 12
In weiter Ferne, so nah!
This summer’s retrospective In weiter Ferne, so nah (Far Away, So Close) offers a rare opportunity to explore the rich and often overlooked cinematic traditions of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Spanning more than seven decades, the programme traces how filmmakers responded to dramatic social and political transformations through comedy, satire, historical drama and documentary. United by a distinctive blend of irony, humanity and formal innovation, these works reveal a cinema that consistently found inventive ways to reflect on power, memory and everyday life. Among the highlights is Miloš Forman’s celebrated Czech new wave classic The Firemen’s Ball (1967), a brilliant satire that follows the story of a chaotic village fundraiser that serves as an allegory of bureaucratic dysfunction. Věra Chytilová’s Panelstory (1979) turns a sprawling housing estate into a vivid portrait of life under late socialism, while the documentary Czech Dream (2004) exposes the promises and pitfalls of post-communist consumer culture through an audacious media hoax. The programme also foregrounds films shaped by war and political upheaval. Alfréd Radok’s Distant Journey (1949), one of the earliest cinematic confrontations with the Holocaust, remains a landmark of post-War European cinema. Slovak works such as Martin Hollý’s Defence Attorney (1964) and Peter Solan’s Boxer and Death (1962) offer powerful reflections on justice, morality and resistance. Together, these screenings reveal the extraordinary breadth of Czech and Slovak filmmaking and its enduring relevance for contemporary audiences.
- Jul 8-Dec 12, various cinemas, details
ONGOING
Dreams (2025), D: Michel Franco
Michel Franco reunites with Jessica Chastain for this provocative drama exploring love, power and privilege at the US-Mexico border. Chastain stars as a wealthy American philanthropist whose relationship with a young Mexican ballet dancer becomes increasingly fraught as questions of class, immigration and control come to the surface. Dreams premiered at the 75th Berlinale and combines Franco’s characteristically cool, unsparing style with a fearless lead performance from Chastain. Intense, unsettling and politically charged, it’s one of the summer’s most intriguing arthouse releases.
- Various cinemas, details
The Odyssey (2026), D: Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s epic will undoubtedly be the blockbuster event of the summer. Shot entirely in IMAX and featuring an extraordinary ensemble cast led by Matt Damon, the film promises to be a spectacle on a scale that few contemporary directors can deliver. Whatever your feelings are about Nolan, this is the kind of ambitious, big-screen cinema that should be experienced in a packed theatre.
- Started Jul 16, various cinemas
Backrooms (2026), D: Kane Parsons
Based on his hugely popular web series, Kane Parsons’ expansion of his viral internet phenomenon could easily have been a gimmick. Instead, early reactions to Backrooms suggest something far more ambitious: a genuinely unnerving horror film that captures the strange anxieties of the digital age. Transforming endless fluorescent corridors into a cinematic nightmare, the film feels like one of the rare genre films that arrives with a genuinely fresh visual language.
- Various cinemas
Diamanti (2024), D: Ferzan Özpetek
Diamanti follows women working in a Roman costume atelier, where the arrival of a demanding film production brings old friendships, rivalries, secrets and family dramas to the surface. Özpetek packs the film with 18 actresses, including Luisa Ranieri, Jasmine Trinca, Elena Sofia Ricci, Kasia Smutniak and Vanessa Scalera. The real draw is the ensemble, but the costumes are a welcome spectacle; Scalera plays Bianca Vega, a fictional costume designer inspired by legendary designers like Milena Canonero.
- Various cinemas
Fatherland (2026), D: Paweł Pawlikowski
Polish-born filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski has quietly built one of the finest bodies of work in contemporary European cinema. His latest, Fatherland, sees him turn his attention to another towering Polish figure: Thomas Mann. Set during the Nobel Prize-winning writer’s return to post-war Germany with his daughter Erika in 1949, the film explores questions surrounding guilt and what it means to return home after exile. With Sandra Hüller, August Diehl and Hanns Zischler leading the cast, Pawlikowski once again tackles memory and displacement.
- Various cinemas
