The Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlinale at a glance
Every year in February film enthusiasts, filmmakers, journalists and producers from all over the world surge over red carpets into the cinemas and films of the Berlin International Film Festival.
For ten days, everything is devoted to film – watching the latest productions, discussing about them, reminiscing about unforgettable film moments or imagining the film of tomorrow.
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Since its foundation in 1951, the Berlinale has become one of the most important film festivals and the biggest audience festival worldwide. About 350 films from all over the world are shown in the official programme every year, with a range from Hollywood movies to low-budget films.
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There are various awards and prizes to win: The best-known and most important one is the Golden Bear, which is awarded by an international jury to the best film of the official Competition. Other sections are Panorama, Forum, Perspektive Deutsches Kino (German Cinema) and Retrospektive. Children and Youth have their own section Generation, which is divided into the two competitions; Kplus for children and 14plus for youth. Here, two Crystal Bears are awarded to the best Kplus feature and short film by the children’s jury. Two Crystal Bears for the best 14plus short and feature film by the youth jury. In the Kplus competition, an international expert jury also awards the “Grand Prize of the German Child Support Organisation(Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk)”, carrying a value of 7.500 € for the best feature film, and the “Special Prize of the German Child Support Organisation(Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk)”, worth 2.500 € for the best short film.
