Berlin’s cinema calendar shifts into high gear this September, with festivals catering to every kind of cinephile. After a one-year break, the Festival of Animation is back with 131 works spanning six competitions and a special focus on Japanese animation. Fantasy Filmfest continues its legacy of edgy, genre-bending premieres, while filmPOLSKA celebrates its 20th edition with a spotlight on debut and sophomore features from Poland. Add to that Kinofest’s nationwide €5 screenings and the launch of Idiocinecratic, a series devoted to overlooked gems, and the city promises a month of unmissable big-screen discoveries.
Fantasy Film Festival
Fantasy Filmfest kickstarted in 1987, quickly carving out a reputation for launching cult classics; the festival has been home to the likes of Freeway (1996), Cure (1997), Donnie Darko (2001), Wild Things (1998) and The Blair Witch Project (1999). This year it continues its love for all things loosely fantasy, be it revenge thrillers, neo-folk horror or gangster epics. Some highlights include Bone Lake, a contemporary erotic thriller wherein a couple’s idyllic stay at a remote lakeside estate is disrupted by the arrival of an alluring and enigmatic pair, unraveling deadly secrets and igniting a violent struggle for survival. There’s also Ben Leonberg’s new work, Good Boy, in which I’m excited to see the great Larry Fessenden feature. When Todd inherits a remote farmhouse once owned by his late grandfather, he and his dog move from the city for a fresh start; Todd dismisses stories of the house being haunted, but his pet can sense something sinister lurking in the shadows, making for an original and operatic horror. You’ll also find Japanese anime, black comedy splatter film The Toxic Avenger, and much more.
- Zoo Palast, Hardenbergstr. 29A, Charlottenburg. Sep 3-10, details.
Silent Film Live Festival
Long before Hans Zimmer gorilla-gripped the entire industry with his magical movie soundtracks, films were usually scored live by an in-house organist. Relive the magic of Berlin’s glorious pre-Marvel (and pre-dialogue) Kino days at this 10-day silent movie marathon.
Queer Film Festival
Back for its seventh edition, the Queer Film Festival screens some of the year’s boldest, funniest, and most beautiful queer cinema. This year’s spotlight includes special guests like Jan Eilhardt (Janine Moves to the Country) and Marcio Reolon & Filipe Matzembacher (Night Stage).
- Delphi Lux, Yva-Bogen, Kantstr. 10, Charlottenburg. Sep 4-10, details.
Idiocinecratic
Berlin’s a paradise for cinephiles, with retrospectives, festivals and arthouse gems at every turn. And yet, some films still slip through the cracks. Enter Idiocinecratic, a brand-new screening series run by Eli Lewy, the codirector of the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival. The screenings, which are in a collaboration with New York nonprofit THE FUTURE OF FILM IS FEMALE, sets its sights on the overlooked, the rarely seen and the outright forgotten. The first film of the series dives into Sarah Jacobson’s riot grrrl calling card Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore from 1996. Shot on 16mm and fuelled by punk spirit, it’s a raucous coming-of-age tale that strips the gloss from the teenage experience. The second night brings a very different but equally vital entry: Martha Coolidge’s devastating Not a Pretty Picture (1976). This deeply personal docudrama reconstructs Coolidge’s own experience of sexual assault as a teenager. Once thought to be lost, the film is now rightly being reappraised as a landmark of feminist cinema: quiet, unflinching and urgently relevant. Two films, two nights, and one unmissable reminder of what cinema can be when it refuses to play by the rules.
- City Kino Wedding, Müllerstr. 74, Wedding. Sep 5-6, details.
filmPOLSKA
Now in its 20th edition, this is one of Berlin’s best festivals when it comes to spotlighting regional cinema. This year the competition programme is focusing on debut or second feature films, with some highly anticipated works to check out. The coming-of age story Glorious Summer, by Helena Ganjalyan and Bartosz Szpak, was met with acclaim at SXSW and is being described as “somewhere in a cinematic landscape that includes Yorgos Lanthimos and Lucile Hadžihalilović”. Then there’s the 2024 DOK Leipzig favourite Flowers of Ukraine by Adelina Borets, a seemingly modest documentary that gradually unfolds into something deeply resonant. At its heart is Natalia, a 67-year-old Kyiv woman who has cultivated a haven amidst the concrete sprawl – goats, chickens, tomatoes, cucumbers. This unlikely garden becomes her refuge amid relentless pressure from property developers. As Russia’s full-scale invasion looms, her personal fight-or-flight takes on symbolic weight. And as a huge fan of the essay film, I’m excited for Letters from Wolf Street, a Berlinale 2025 favourite by Arjun Talwar that portrays the comings and goings of a single street in Warsaw. Also on my hotlist: Travel Essentials by Kamila Tarabura, a road movie with a twist; Seasons by Michał Grzybowski, which follows a thespian couple who imitate their life on the stage; and It’s Not My Film by Maria Zbąska, where a couple finds themselves at a crossroads. Those Scheidewege will be the theme of the festival’s Panorama programme, which spotlights the best of contemporary Polish cinema. And don’t miss the filmPOLSKA concert, which focuses on Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz, as well as works by Frédéric Chopin and Karol Szymanowski.
- Various cinemas, Sep 10-17, details.
Film Without Borders
The ideal weekend getaway, this four-day indie film fest at Brandenburg’s serene Scharmützelsee highlights features, documentaries and shorts exploring positive visions for humanity’s future. Expect screenings, workshops, intimate talks with filmmakers – and maybe some optional skinny dipping.
- Eibenhof Bad Saarow, Alte Eichen 33, Brandenburg. Sep 11-14, details.
Kinofest
Now in its fourth year, Kinofest 2025 will offer €5 tickets to all films screening in participating cinemas across Germany. This is a great chance to try a double or even triple screener for the same price that a single ticket at your local arthouse would usually run for. With over 700 cinemas included nationwide, you can be sure to not have to walk far from your apartment to find one of Berlin’s hotspots.
- Various cinemas, Sep 13-14, details.
Hump! Film Festival
Humbly self-titled “the world’s best erotic film festival”, this two-day celebration of creative and artful smut serves up 22 spicy adult short films – queer, body-inclusive and 100% kink-positive.
- Babylon Kreuzberg, Dresdener Str. 126, Kreuzberg. Sep 23-24, details.
Kurdish Film Festival
Now in its 15th year, this week-long programme spotlights Kurdish filmmakers from Kurdistan and the diaspora, telling stories of resistance, resilience and everyday life under oppressive regimes.
- Babylon, Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 30, Mitte. Sep 25-Oct 1, details.
Festival of Animation
After a one-year hiatus, the city’s film festival for all things animation is returning for its 8th edition, boasting a selection of 131 animated works from 33 countries. In terms of organisation, there will be six competitions: International, German, New Talent, Commissioned Films, Pink Panda (for children from preschool to secondary school) and feature films. With such a broad spectrum of categories, the works on offer will traverse 2D, 3D, stop-motion, hand-drawn and mixed media, with everything from narrative film to experimental. This year there will also be a special focus on Japanese animation, which is bound to be exciting given the country’s incredible contribution to the genre. Look out for the German premiere of ChaO by Yasuhiro Aoki and don’t miss the festival-opening performance by the AniManga Chor. If that wasn’t enough to sink your teeth into, there’ll also be a special anniversary screening commemorating 65 years of the International Animated Film Association. Get ready to dive deep into a genre that is so much more than classic Disney!
- silent green, Gerichtstr. 35, Wedding, and City Kino Wedding, Müllerstr. 74, Wedding. Sep 26-28, details.
