Feb 24, 2025
Joyful Closing of the 75th Berlinale: Delighted Winners and Full Cinemas

The 75th Berlin International Film Festival came to a successful close with the Berlinale Publikumstag (Audience Day) on February 23. After the festive Award Ceremony (see full list of award winners (550 KB)) on Saturday evening, where Drømmer (Dreams (Sex Love)) by Dag Johan Haugerud was awarded the Golden Bear, thousands of viewers once again flocked to the cinemas on the Berlinale Publikumstag for catch-up screenings of films from the anniversary edition.

Interest in the programme of the 75th Berlinale was very impressive among industry professionals and the public: Around 19,000 accredited professionals (including press) came to the festival. 336,000 tickets were sold to the public, slightly more than 2024.

“We were delighted with the results of the 75th anniversary edition. We have seen a positive response to our juries’ decisions, strong feedback on the improvements we made to our infrastructure, and also much excellent feedback on film and industry programmes. Additionally audience admissions were up on previous years. The spirit was high and with this energy we are already planning for 2026,” says Festival Director Tricia Tuttle.

The eight sections of the festival offered the audience a diverse film programme and around 340 audience discussions with the film teams across approx. 1,000 public screenings during the Berlinale. The new section Perspectives, in which 14 exciting feature film debuts celebrated their premieres, put the spotlight on up-and-coming international filmmakers. A number of these films reported international sales during the Berlinale.

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary, the Berlin International Film Festival reenergised its centre at Potsdamer Platz. A new screening venue at Stage Blue Max Theater and the Festival Center HUB75 overlooked the Red Carpet of the Berlinale Palast both ensuring greater vitality around the heart of the Festival. HUB75 served as a meeting place for industry professionals throughout the Berlinale, but also as a space hosting 15 free talks and events for public audiences and professional visitors.

The European Film Market's 2025 edition buzzed with dynamic activity, with steady attendance and a wave of first-time participants from India and Eastern Europe. A strong US presence led the turnout as the second largest group of participants after participants from Germany, followed by France and Spain and the UK.

998 market screenings, 82.3% of them market premieres, attracted over 1,314 buyers. The various new networking formats and expert-led workshops were exceptionally well-attended. The Berlinale Series Market spotlighted exclusive previews of upcoming international series.

The team of the Berlinale Co-Production Market put together an extremely successful 22nd edition at a new location, the Octogon at Leipziger Platz: more than 1,500 individual meetings with co-producers were organised and five cash prizes totalling over 60,000 euros were awarded to new feature film projects. The talks, speed matchings, consultations and networking events also delighted the more than 600 international participants.

This year’s focus on listening with courage, exploring new narratives and reflecting on creative processes was the common thread throughout the Berlinale Talents programme, and a timely one. The 200 invited filmmakers enjoyed an invigorating range of discussions, workshops, labs and think tanks as well as well-attended public talks with Todd Haynes, Cheryl Dunye, Michel Franco, Zacharias Kunuk, Rana Eid, Inbal Weinberg and Bina Daigeler, just to name a few. An exclusive session with Honorary Golden Bear recipient Tilda Swinton was a once-in-a-life-time experience for all Talents. The global alumni community of Berlinale Talents was also very well represented, with 125 former participants represented in 77 of the festival films.

The World Cinema Fund dedicated its WCF Day 2025 to “Poetry and Politics, Production, Visibility and Resilience Strategies in Challenging Times”, which was very well visited. Panels around cinema production in the Arab world and distribution and audience strategies for WCF regions were part of the WCF Day. The presence of five WCF-supported films in the Berlinale 2025 programme conveys very well what the WCF is, does and means today.

Press Office
February 24, 2025