Berlinale Bloggers 2026

Award-winning films about power, identity and violence – and a gala overshadowed by controversy. The Golden Bear for “Yellow Letters” seems like a plea for politics in storytelling.

More than 20 South American films are screening at the 2026 Berlinale. They explore themes ranging from familial constraints and racism to state control under military dictatorships — with physical or moral violence recurring throughout.

The Québecois filmmaker Zoé Pelchat makes a powerful statement for sisterly solidarity with her second Berlinale contribution, "C'est ma sœur", and finds a promising cinematic language to express it. 

Geneviève Dulude-De Celles’ film is a transatlantic dance of estrangement and the search for connection, subtly portraying a damaged father-daughter relationship, uprooting, and the question of what price past decisions demand in the present.

How can a 17-year-old girl be pregnant without anyone noticing? How do you hide such a big secret? A young woman who feels lost and afraid points to a collective societal failure.

Two young women, one nerdy and bookish, the other charismatic and carefree, find each other – secretly. In a conservative elite boarding school in South Africa. A debut feature about a warm-hearted queer love story that has a few hurdles to overcome. But then the game of hide-and-seek is over.

With works about the gruelling life of cleaning staff and the victim of a racist attack, two of the most powerful German films are screening in the Berlinale's Panorama section.

Two films, two stories of return – and the insight that lies do not have to be spoken aloud. Sometimes they lie in silence. Sometimes in memory. And sometimes in what a community is willing to believe.

Arab cinema is exceptionally well represented at the 2026 Berlinale with 15 different films, jury entries, the young talent programme and the co-production market – reflecting the growing importance that filmmakers from the Middle East and North Africa have gained in recent years.

“Rose bushes are like families. You have to prune both.” According to this quote from the film, is personal freedom only possible if you cut ties with family members? A film about family ties, trauma, and healing.

Berlinale Talents will once again in 2026 invite emerging creatives from around the world and provide an important platform for networking, dialogue, and knowledge exchange. Film criticism is also moving into the spotlight — with Vedant Srinivas from India among the participants. Yet there, as in many places, this discipline is noticeably under pressure.

A dramatic political story, romance and subtle humour: Shahrbanoo Sadat combines many elements in a captivating way in the 2026 Berlinale opening film. The Afghan-born director and actress searches the streets of Kabul for good men – the result is more than disillusioning.

Brazilian director Eliza Capai is back at the Berlinale with her fifth film. “A fabulosa máquina do tempo” (The Fabulous Time Machine) is in the running for the Silver Bear in the Generation Kplus section and is on the list of 16 films from different sections competing for the Berlinale Documentary Film Award.

Self-reflective, detached, a little lethargic: Anna Roller adapts Leif Randt's generational portrait “Allegro Pastell” for the screen based on his screenplay.

Sinema Transtopia is more than a cinema – it sees itself as a space for discourse, film culture and neighbourhood. But what does a cinema look like when it aims not just to show films, but to become a place of encounter?

With the slogan “Lost in the 90s,” the retrospective celebrates an exciting decade of film – in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut.

The Berlinale Retrospective looks back on a decade full of upheaval, experimentation, and lost certainties. Heleen Gerritsen explains how the films of the 1990s reflect the change in political system — and why preserving film heritage is crucial for the future of the Deutsche Kinemathek.

The Berlinale sharpens its profile: the competition tells stories of love, power and dependency – while striving for international visibility.