The 2021 Berlinale: A Festival in Two Stages

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 71st Berlin International Film Festival is taking place in two stages.

From March 1 to 5, 2021, the 71st Berlinale was launched with an Industry Event for film professionals and accredited representatives of the press.

The Summer Special for the general public will be held from June 9 to 20 as an outdoor-only event. The Summer Special will celebrate its opening on June 9 at Museum Island Berlin.
(see press release from May 10, 2021, including a list of the 16 venues)

Information regarding the programme, ticket sales as well as the hygiene measures will be posted May 20 on the respective sites. Also from May 20, the venues can be found on the festival map and details concerning inclusion and accessibility will be available online.

The 71st Berlinale Programme and Film Selection

The detailed programme for the Summer Special, which will include most of the selected films, will be released on May 20.

The open-air format unfortunately does not allow for presentations of 35mm prints. For this reason, the Retrospective of the 2021 Berlinale, which is based largely on classic film footage, has been postponed until the 2022 edition of the festival.

The Forum Expanded exhibition scheduled to open on May 18 at SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin has been cancelled for 2021. The artist group The Living and the Dead Ensemble will instead show from May 18 in the windows of SAVVY Contemporary from May 18. The works selected for the 2021 Forum Expanded will be presented next year.

Most of the selected films were available for viewing online by industry representatives and accredited members of the press during the Industry Event from March 1 to 5.

Juries and Awards

The majority of the prizes for the 71st Berlinale – including the winners of the Golden and Silver Bears – were already announced during the Industry Event in March. The Berlinale Documentary Award, the GWFF Best First Feature Award and the Crystal Bears of the Generation section will be decided by the respective juries during the Summer Special.

The awards will be presented to the winners in front of an audience during the Summer Special on June 13 at Museum Island. The Crystal Bears will be presented at the premieres of the winning films.

Overview of the prizes and juries of the 71st Berlinale

Videos of the award announcements and the reactions of the winners