Conditions

Applications for accreditation to the 2025 Berlinale can be made online from the beginning of November 2024.

The information on this page serves as a general orientation on the accreditation process.
Updated information on the Berlinale 2025 will be published from autumn 2024.

A precondition for a Festival Accreditation/EFM Registration is proof of your current professional activity as a filmmaker or as a representative of the film industry, a cultural institution or another film festival. When applying, please provide your professional supporting documents in accordance with the accreditation requirements.

All applications are assessed. The Berlinale reserves the right to accept or reject an application. Please only include significant links/documents and collate the information. If the required evidence cannot be provided (e.g. in cases of young professionals, company start-ups or peripheral activities in the film industry), we ask you instead to briefly explain why you need an accreditation for your work and/or your motivation for applying. Evidence can only be considered in German or English. Applications without evidence cannot be processed.

For applications by employees of companies and organisations, their participation in the festival and/or EFM must be of relevance to their company. The respective function/position of the employee in the company is a deciding factor. We require the following up-to-date information to assess such accreditation applications:

  • Your company’s field of activities (company profile with detailed project list. For projects in development, we ask for apposite basic data)
  • Your position in the company (your job title in English)

Evidence of activity must be provided by referring to a currently maintained website or by uploading apposite documents (in German/English).

Please understand that the number of accreditations per company is limited. For this reason, we recommend registering a company’s employees online in the order of priority to the company. Only permanent employees of the company/organisation in question can be accredited. Interns cannot receive accreditation.

Notes for specific groups:

  • Buyers (cinema, TV, streaming platform) must upload proof of their purchases over the last three years in their application (list should include: title, link to film, date of purchase & release) - especially if they want to apply for a Buyers Badge.
    Buyers Status: Compared to the Market Badge, the Buyers Badge offers priority access to Market Screenings and EFM locations. Buyers status cannot be purchased but is allocated to a limited number of companies by the EFM. You are considered for selection if you order a (Online) Market Badge and select "Acquisitions (…)" as your "Field of Activity" on the application form.
    The Buyers status cannot be purchased, but is awarded by the EFM to companies in limited numbers. Decisive are the purchases of current feature-length films in the past twelve months. The following professional groups do not receive Buyer Status: cinema operators, festival curators, film sales companies, film production companies.
  • For employees of production and distribution companies, an active and consistent focus on short and/or feature films or high-quality fictional/documentary series is crucial. Some of the productions for which the applicant has been responsible should already have screened at international festivals and/or have had a wide release (cinema, TV, streaming platform). Commercials do not serve as proof of professional activity.
  • Persons working for a film or cultural institution, a museum or film festival can only be accredited if they have a curating/leading position in the respective organisation.
  • Commissioning editors must currently be working in an editorial department for feature films, television films, documentaries, children’s films or series (the editorial department of the TV station must be specified when submitting the application).
  • Persons working for a cinema can only be accredited if they have a curating position in the cinema.
  • University employees must currently be teaching and/or researching on a course whose central focus is on film (specialisms can include: production, directing, screenwriting, acting, film archives, film business, production design, casting, post-production, film theory).
  • In the case of lawyers and employees in legal departments, the applicants’ everyday work must be related to legal matters connected to a film production or distribution company. Law firms must attach a letter from the film company confirming that the firm represents their legal affairs.

We require the following up-to-date information to assess your accreditation application:

  • A CV including a detailed filmography
    Films/projects must be dated with the applicant’s role clearly evident. Festival screenings, awards and positive funding decisions should be included in the filmography and any current grants listed. Apposite basic data is required for projects in development.

The applicant’s activities during the last three years are decisive for an accreditation. Please only send relevant links/documents (in German or English) and collate the information. Proof of activity must be provided via at least one of the following:

  • A link to a website and/or freely accessible film databases
  • A document that explains/provides evidence of activities in the film industry
  • A letter explaining your motivation for wishing to participate in the festival/EFM.

Notes for specific groups:

  • People working in the areas of direction, script, production, production design, camera, casting, costume, post-production (editing, music, visual effects, etc.) should have played a key role in the respective craft. For ​​short and/or feature-length films and high-quality fictional/documentary series, some of the productions should already have screened at international festivals and/or have had a wide release (cinema/TV/streaming platform).
  • Actors should have worked in leading or supporting roles in the following productions: at least one feature-length film (all genres, minimum running time: 60 minutes) or two short films or a high-quality series (several episodes with a minimum running time of 30 minutes). The productions must have already been screened at international festivals, in several cinemas, on TV or on a streaming platform.
  • For consultants and film financiers, the applicants’ day-to-day work must be related to the film industry. An apposite list of completed projects and projects in development or a list of customers is required as evidence.
  • Local film associations must provide evidence of their current programme which should take place at regular intervals (at least once a month). A maximum of two accreditations are awarded per film association.

Members of national professional associations that are cooperation partners of the Berlinale should contact their association before completing the accreditation form. These applicants will receive an “association code” to register which proves their respective professional activity as filmmakers or representatives of the film industry. Further proof of activity is not required.

The Berlinale has cooperations in place with the following national professional associations:

  • AG Dok:
  • Berliner Film- und Fernsehverband e.V.:
  • Bundesverband Regie e.V.:
  • Bundesverband Filmschnitt Editor e.V.:
  • Bundesverband Jugend und Film e.V.:
  • Bundesverband kommunale Filmarbeit e.V.:
  • BVK - Berufsverband Kinematografie:
  • Filmbüro Bremen e.V.:
  • Film- und Medienbüro Niedersachsen e.V.:
  • Filmbüro NW e.V.:
  • Filmkultur Schleswig-Holstein e.V.:
  • Film- und Kinobüro Hessen e.V.:
  • Spitzenorganisation der Filmwirtschaft (SPIO):
  • Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren e.V.:
  • Vedra - Verband für Film- und Fernsehdramaturgie e.V.:
  • VSK Verband der Berufsgruppen Szenenbild und Kostümbild e.V.:

Students can apply for a Student Accreditation.