The festival
Founded in 1951 and held every February since 1978, the Berlinale is one of Europe's 'Big Three' festivals alongside Cannes and Venice. Its top prize is the Golden Bear.
Worth knowing
Asian cinema has featured at the Berlinale since its very first edition, whose lineup included Akira Kurosawa's 'Rashomon,' and Asian filmmakers have won the Golden Bear on multiple occasions over the decades. The festival is also one of the most heavily attended by the public among the major European festivals.
How to attend
The Berlinale sells tickets to the general public, and its screenings draw large audiences across Berlin each February.
Awards & submissions
The Berlinale’s Competition awards the Golden Bear for best film along with a set of Silver Bears, including the Grand Jury Prize, Best Director and prizes for performances and screenplay. Beyond the Competition, the festival is organized into sections such as Encounters, Panorama, Forum and the youth-focused Generation, each with its own character, and it hosts the European Film Market, one of the industry’s major trading floors. Its Berlinale Talents programme and World Cinema Fund have long supported filmmakers from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Films are entered for consideration through the Berlinale’s official online submission system, with entry forms and deadlines posted on the festival website; selection for the Competition and other sections is made by the festival’s programmers. As one of Europe’s most heavily attended festivals, it also sells large numbers of tickets to Berlin audiences each February.
Official site →Dates and programs change year to year — check the official site for the current edition.