The 76th annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, took place from 12 to 22 February 2026 in Berlin, Germany. German filmmaker Wim Wenders was named the Jury President for the main competition.
Yellow Letters by İlker Çatak won the festival's top prize, the Golden Bear. The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize was awarded to Salvation by Emin Alper. While the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance was awarded to Sandra Hüller for Rose.
The festival opened with German-Afghan drama film No Good Men by Shahrbanoo Sadat. During the opening ceremony, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh was awarded the Honorary Golden Bear.
Controversies
The festival was marked for a number of controversies regarding the ongoing Gaza war and Germany's government role in it.
During the press conference for the main competition jury, Wenders, in response to a question about the festival's government-based funding and its official response to the ongoing Gaza genocide in comparison to its full support to Ukraine and Iranian democratic protests, stated that the jury "has to stay out of politics".
The statement created controversy throughout the festival, resulting in the withdrawal of the films The Dislocation of Amber (1975) by Sudanese filmmaker Hussein Shariffe and Sad Song of Touha (1972) by Egyptian filmmaker Atteyat El Abnoudy, as well as the writer Arundhati Roy, who was scheduled to appear with a restoration of the Indian film In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989). Roy said that "To hear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping. It is a way of shutting down a conversation about a crime against humanity even as it unfolds before us in real time—when artists, writers and film-makers should be doing everything in their power to stop it".
On 17 February, more than 80 directors, actors and producers including Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Adam McKay and Mike Leigh signed an open letter criticising the festival for “censoring artists who oppose Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the German state’s key role in enabling it”, the letter urges the Festival to condemn the ongoing massacre of civilians in a similar position adopted to the ongoing massacre of civilians in Ukraine and Iran.
Responding to the open letter, Berlinale's artistic director Tricia Tuttle stated that the festival would not change its position on Israel, but added that "people are realizing that maybe staatsräson is holding us back from having important conversations about the government that is currently in power in Israel".
During the closing ceremony, numerous winners and jury members from sidebars sections, who were mostly filmmakers from the Middle East, including Emin Alper, Abdallah Al-Khatib, Marie-Rose Osta and Ameer Fakher Eldin, took the stage to criticize the festival's lack of support to Palestinian civilians and condemn the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Palestinian-Syrian filmmaker Abdallah Al-Khatib won the GWFF Best First Feature Award for Chronicles from the Siege. This film was the only Palestinian feature selected to the festival. The filmmaker, who lives in Germany, criticized the German and Israeli governments and their involvements in the Gaza War during his speech, prompting Germany's Federal Minister for the Environment Carsten Schneider (SPD) to leave the ceremony.
In the aftermath of the closing ceremony, controversy ensued around Germany's Minister of State for Culture led by Wolfram Weimer (CDU), the festival's main funder. An extraordinary meeting over the future of the festival was called by the Minister cabinet, while artist director Tricia Tuttle faced imminent risk of dismissal after posing for pictures alongside a flag of Palestine held by Chronicles from the Siege crew. Tuttle had been hired after the 74th edition, on a 5-year deal, following the dismissal of Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek for similar reasons. Shortly after, new open letters were created, this time supporting Tuttle and expressing concern with the German government censorship attempts, and were signed by industry members, Israeli filmmakers, international festival directors, and the Berlinale staff. Following these events, Weimer announced that the German government would not dismiss Tuttle, and instead planned to develop guidelines for publicly funded cultural institutions aimed at balancing artistic freedom with Germany’s responsibilities regarding antisemitism and support for Israel.
Yeoh's refusal to comment on the U.S. government's ongoing mass deportation program was also met with further controversy.
The refusal of the German Embassy in Cairo to grant entry visas to a delegation of Sudanese filmmakers caused a stir. Sudanese filmmaker Mohammed Alomda, his producer Amjad Abu Alala and writer Paula Thabet were invited to attend the European Film Market, but pulled out after visa rejection over "migration risk". They had intended to present their film project Blue Card at the event.
Juries
Main Competition Wim Wenders, German filmmaker – Jury President Min Bahadur Bham, Nepalese filmmaker Bae Doona, South Korean actress Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Indian filmmaker Reinaldo Marcus Green, American filmmaker Hikari, Japanese filmmaker Ewa Puszczyńska, Polish producer
Perspectives Jury (GWFF Best First Feature Award) Sofia Alaoui, French-Moroccan filmmaker Frédéric Hambalek, German filmmaker Dorota Lech, Polish director of the New Horizons International Film Festival and programmer at TIFF
Short Film Competition Ameer Fakher Eldin, Syrian filmmaker Stefan Großmann, Austrian journalist and author Gabriele Stötzer, German visual artist
Generation Jury Khozy Rizal, Indonesian filmmaker Lena Urzendowsky, German actress Kim Yutani, American director of programming at the Sundance Film Festival
Berlinale Documentary Award Jury Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, Lesotho filmmaker B. Ruby Rich, American scholar and film critic Shaunak Sen, Indian filmmaker
Teddy Award Saagar Gupta, Indian curator, producer, screenwriter, and the co-founder and Artistic Director of the KASHISH Pride Film Festival Skadi Loist, German Professor of Film Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Daniela Vega, Chilean actress, producer and singer Sigal Yehuda, Israeli-Belgian producer Ray Yeung, Hong Kong filmmaker
Official Sections Main Competition The following films were selected for the main competition for the Golden Bear on 20 January 2026: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country At the Sea Kornél Mundruczó United States, Hungary Dao Alain Gomis France, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal Dust Anke Blondé Belgium, Greece, Poland, United Kingdom Everybody Digs Bill Evans Grant Gee Ireland, United Kingdom Home Stories Etwas ganz Besonderes Eva Trobisch Germany In a Whisper À voix basse Leyla Bouzid France, Tunisia Josephine Beth de Araújo United States The Loneliest Man in TownWiener Blues – The Loneliest Man in Town Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel Austria Flies Moscas Fernando Eimbcke Mexico My Wife Cries Meine Frau weint Angela Schanelec Germany, France A New Dawn 花緑青が明ける日に Yoshitoshi Shinomiya France, Japan Nightborn Yön Lapsi Hanna Bergholm Finland, France, Lithuania, United Kingdom Nina Roza Geneviève Dulude-De Celles Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Italy Queen at Sea Lance Hammer United Kingdom, United States Rose Markus Schleinzer Austria, Germany Rosebush Pruning Karim Aïnouz Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars Soumsoum, la nuit des astres Mahamat-Saleh Haroun Chad, France Salvation Kurtuluş Emin Alper France, Greece, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Turkey Yellow Letters Gelbe Briefe İlker Çatak Germany, France, Turkey We Are All Strangers 我们不是陌生人 Anthony Chen Singapore Wolfram Warwick Thornton Australia Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird) Anna Fitch and Banker White United States
Berlinale Special — Out of Competition The following films are selected for the Berlinale Special screening: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country Special Gala The Blood Countess Die Blutgräfin Ulrike Ottinger Austria, Luxembourg, Germany Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die Gore Verbinski United States, Germany, South Africa Heysel 85 Teodora Ana Mihai Belgium, Romania, Netherlands, GermanyNo Good Men (opening film)Kabul JanShahrbanoo SadatGermany, France, Norway, Denmark, Afghanistan The Only Living Pickpocket in New York Noah Segan United States The Testament of Ann Lee Mona Fastvold United Kingdom, United States The Weight Padraic McKinley United States Honorary Golden Bear Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert United States Sandiwara (short) Sean Baker United States, Malaysia Special Midnight The Ballad of Judas Priest Sam Dunn and Tom Morello United States Saccharine Natalie Erika James Australia Sleep No More Monster Pabrik Rambut Edwin Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Germany, France Special Presentations A Child of My Own Un hijo propio Maite Alberdi Mexico Tutu Sam Pollard United Kingdom Wax & Gold Ruth Beckermann Austria Who Killed Alex Odeh? Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans United States Special Series La casa de los espíritus and Andrés Wood Chile House of Yang Mia Spengler Germany Lord of the Flies Marc Munden United Kingdom Mint Charlotte Regan Ravalear: Not For Sale Ravalear and Isaki Lacuesta Spain The Story of Documentary Film Mark Cousins United Kingdom
Perspectives 14 films will be competing for the Best First Feature Award. The following films were selected for the second edition of the Perspectives section: English title Original title Director(s) Production country 17 Kosara Mitić North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia Animol Ashley Walters United Kingdom A Prayer for the Dying Dara Van Dusen Norway, Greece, United Kingdom, Sweden Chronicles from the Siegeوقائع زمن الحصار Abdallah Al-Khatib Algeria, France, Palestine Filipiñana Rafael Manuel Singapore, United Kingdom, Philippines, France, Netherlands Forest High Forêt Ivre Manon Coubia Belgium, France Light Pillar 寒夜灯柱 Zao Xu China Our Secret Nosso Segredo Grace Passô Brazil, Portugal The Red Hangar Hangar rojo Juan Pablo Sallato Chile, Argentina, Italy The River Train El Tren Fluvial Lorenzo Ferro and Lucas A. Vignale Argentina Take Me Home Liz Sargent United States Trial of Hein Der Heimatlose Kai Stänicke Germany Truly Naked Muriel d'Ansembourg Netherlands, Belgium, France Where To?לאן Assaf Machnes Israel, Germany
Short Film Competition The following films were selected for the Short Films Competition and nominated for the Short Film Golden Bear: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country An Accident Ein Unfall Angelika Spangel Austria A Woman's Place is Everywhere Fanny Texier United States Chuuraa Evgenia Arbugaeva United Kingdom Cosmonauts Leo Černic Slovenia, Italy Flim Flam Siegfried A. Fruhauf Austria Graft Versus Host Giorgi Gago Gagoshidze Germany, Georgia Henry is a Girl Who Likes to Sleep Marthe Peters Belgium Incident on the Mountain Oupatevak het tam phnom Savunthara Seng Cambodia Les juifs riches Yolande Zauberman France Kleptomania 地三鲜 Jingkai Qu China Kontrewers Zuza Banasińska Netherlands, Poland, France Miriam Karla Condado Mexico Shot Reverse Shot Plan contraplan Radu Jude and Adrian Cioflâncă Romania Someday a Child Yawman ma walad Marie-Rose Osta France, Romania, Lebanon Souls of Fouta Les âmes du Fouta Alpha Diallo France, Senegal Stallion and a Crystal Ball Stallion y la bola de cristal Christian Avilés Spain Taxi Moto Gaël Kamilindi Switzerland, France Time to Go La hora de irse Renzo Cozza Argentina Unidentified Nonflying Objects (UNO) Unidentifizierte Unflugobjekte (UUO) Sasha Svirsky Germany With a Kind Regard Mit einem freundlichen Gruss Pavel Mozhar Yuragim Varia Garib and Kirill Komar Austria, Uzbekistan
Panorama The following films were selected for the Panorama section: