Berlin’s cinema calendar shifts into high gear this October, with festivals catering to every kind of cinephile. The Uranium Film Festival marks a decade with a powerful programme confronting the atomic age’s legacy, whilst Arsenal’s ‘On Location’ series honours the cerebral provocations of Claudia von Alemann’s newly restored feminist cinema. Eva Lichtspiele continues its monthly Tatort retrospective featuring the late Hansjörg Felmy as Inspector Haferkamp, and the Deutsche Kinemathek’s Film Restored festival celebrates action cinema through the ages with rare restorations from 13 countries.
Uranium Film Festival
Now in its 10th year, the Uranium Film Festival will showcase around 30 films exploring nuclear energy, weapons and environmental fallout with documentaries, shorts and animations – often with directors in attendance. This year marked 80 years since the bombing of Hiroshima, and UFF will confront this anniversary and the ongoing legacy of the atomic age as a focus in its programming. The festival is organised in collaboration with Berlin’s independent art scene and prominent NGOs, many of whom will be in attendance during the series of discussions and events, reinforcing activist and educational mandates.
- Various venues, Oct 7-11, details.
Arsenal on Location: Claudia von Alemann
Claudia von Alemann is one of those rare cerebral provocateurs whose films don’t just reflect feminist theory, they interrogate it, embody it and occasionally scald it. A product of 1960s radicalism and the rigour of German intellectual tradition, her cinema fuses Brechtian cool with haunted interiority. In terms of themes, the political blends into the artistic and societal; in terms of tone, there is an accomplished austerity in von Alemann’s work. As part of Arsenal’s ‘On Location’ series, a selection of her newly restored films will be screened, alongside conversations with film scholars and historians like Stefanie Schulte Strathaus, Heleen Gerritsen, Elisa Jochum and Markus Ruff.
- Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg 10, Mitte, Oct 11-12, details.
Inspector Haferkamp – The crime scene series
Krimi is somewhat of a national pastime here in Germany, and nothing better symbolises it than the beloved long-running show Tatort, which began airing in West Germany in the 1970s. For the uninitiated, the reason Tatort is so singular is that its format speaks volumes about regional identity, storytelling traditions and the elasticity of the crime genre. Unlike most crime series, which follow a single detective or team, Tatort operates more like an anthology: different episodes are produced by various regional broadcasters, each with their own recurring detectives and settings. Viewers might spend one week in gritty Berlin with a hard-edged duo, the next in scenic Münster with a pair of comedic oddballs, the next in Vienna or Lucerne, exploring Austria or Switzerland’s darker corners. These rotating teams give the show a rich sense of place and local culture rarely seen in mainstream crime television. Berlin’s Eva Lichtspiele Kino is now hosting a Tatort screening series, where you can catch old episodes featuring the late German actor Hansjörg Felmy in his recurring role as Kommisar Haferkamp. Felmy appeared in 20 episodes, and Eva Lichtspiele is screening every one of them on the last Saturdays of the month all the way through July 2027.
- Eva Lichtspiele, Blissestr. 18, Charlottenburg, Oct 25, details.
Film Restored – The Film Heritage Festival
The action film isn’t just a genre – it’s a kinetic force, a visual language that has morphed from war epic to thriller to cape-wearing spectacle. What unites them all is motion: bodies in conflict, images cut with breathless urgency. This year’s Film Restored festival, which every year highlights cinema from bygone eras thanks to the vital work of film restoration, dives headlong into the action genre as their theme. The event’s 10th edition, organised by the Deutsche Kinemathek, showcases bold, subversive and alternative takes, though the focus remains on presenting lost films to the public. The festival offers a programme of restored films from 13 countries made between the 1910s and 2000, along with talks and workshops. Highlights include Adventure on the Night Express (Harry Piel, 1925), Behind the Door (Irvin Willat, 1919), The Heart of the Matter (Amber Hollibaugh, Gini Reticker, 1994), A Touch of Zen (King Hu, 1971) and A Season in Hakkari (Erden Kiral, 1983). Join for screenings, action-packed conversation and a fresh look at film history in motion.
- Various venues, Oct 22-26, details.
Q&A with director Marie Luise Lehner
If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart into Your Mouth and Smile is a tender, quietly powerful coming-of-age debut from Austrian filmmaker Marie Luise Lehner. Set in Vienna, it follows 12-year-old Anna as she grapples with class shame, sexuality and her relationship with her deaf mother. It’s understated, intimate and beautifully acted. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Lehner, so get ready to watch, think, feel, and ask good questions.
MUBI Fest 2025
For its inaugural Berlin festival, MUBI is bringing plenty of awards-season darlings and plenty of directors Q&As to the tranquil cultural hub of Wedding’s silent green. Catch buzzy new works like Kelly Reichardt’s heist film The Mastermind, followed by a discussion with Reichardt and the journalist Hannah Pilarczyk, plus an afterparty with live music. In addition, there’s Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April (also with her live in conversation); some very special Twin Peaks revivals; German director Mascha Schilinski (whose recent Sound of Falling has been getting attention) presenting her 2017 Berlinale hit Dark Blue Girl; and a screening of Solo Sunny to celebrate 100 years since Konrad Wolf’s birth. This is a great chance to see work from some burgeoning masters of the craft before they really blow up.
- silent green, Gerichstr. 35, Wedding, Oct 3-5, details.
Tribute to Nico
The krautrock legend Lutz “Lüül” Graf-Ulbrich and filmmaker-playwright Werner Fritsch, whose play Nico – Sphinx of Ice explores beloved singer Nico’s life and legacy, will be presenting a programme honouring the Velvet Underground chanteuse and proto-goth pioneer (and Berlin legend) on what would have been her 87th birthday.
- Lichtblick Kino,Kastanienallee 77, Prenzlauer Berg, Oct 16, details.
