About Berlin & Beyond

23rd Berlin & Beyond Film Festival, San Francisco
March 8-14, 2019

Now in its 23rd season, the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival is the leading and largest festival of contemporary German cinema in the Americas. With an annual attendance of over 10,000 film-goers, the festival has presented over 500 motion pictures from German-speaking countries in its history. It has welcomed to the San Francisco screen and stage many celebrated international film talents, including Mario Adorf, Fatih Akin, Moritz Bleibtreu, Daniel Brühl, Lars Eidinger, Hannelore Elsner, Florian David Fitz, Bruno Ganz, Maria Schrader, Tom Schilling, Barbara Sukowa, Michael Verhoeven, Simon Verhoeven, and Wim Wenders.

Since its inauguration in 1996, the main venue of the festival has always been the Castro Theatre, the famous movie palace which celebrated celebrated its 95th anniversary in 2017.

The festival is an annual tradition for San Francisco, and has been a gateway for the American public to experience the diversity, history and progress of German-speaking countries; while celebrating the universal spirit and vision of filmmakers from this global region.

Board of Directors

Sigrid Savelsberg, President
Dennis M. Sullivan, Secretary
Martin Schwartz, Treasurer
Patrick Heinz
Jale Yoldas

Festival Director

Sophoan Sorn

Support and Get Involved

Tax-deductible donations can be made to the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Berlin & Beyond, Inc., to support the film festival.For information on the membership program and benefits, click here.

For business sponsorship inquiries, email 
berlinbeyond@goethe.de 

To become a volunteer, email 
berlinbeyond@goethe.de

 

​Educational Program - Youth 4 German Cinema

Now in its sixth year, Youth 4 German Cinema is an educational program organized in collaboration with the Language Program of the Goethe-institut San Francisco and the online youth portal Step Into German

​The Goethe-Institut

The Goethe-Institut is comprised of 157 institutes in 98 countries. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017, the San Francisco branch has been promoting German culture and language since 1967. In addition to its presentation of the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival, its year-round cultural activities include art exhibitions, weekly film screenings, annual events with local cultural institutions and period social gatherings.