The plan to hold the Berlinale Summer Special (June 9-20, 2021) as an outdoor event is now set. The Berlinale is pleased to be able to give audiences the enjoyment of an open-air cinema experience at 16 venues in total at the Summer Special. Both Berlin’s falling 7-day incidence for COVID-19, as well as positive signals by government offices to support the request for a pilot project with mandatory testing have reinforced the festival directors’ planning of an all-outdoor event.

“We’re extremely pleased about the new concept for the Berlinale Summer Special, despite having planned it differently at the outset. Audiences will be getting a very special, collective festival experience - something we’ve all been missing for such a long time. The Summer Special is geared towards re-igniting the desire to go to the cinema, and to contributing to the revival of cultural activities with an audience. We’ll be able to present the festival programme to Berlin audiences in almost every part of the city at a total of 16 venues, including a specially created outdoor cinema at the historic Museum Island Berlin as the main venue. The “Kiez-Kino” local cinema screenings will also take place as outdoor events, and be more strongly represented in different parts of the city. Thanks to the generous additional funding by the BKM, Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media Monika Grütters, for the festival’s two-phase format in 2021, and the support of the Berlin Senate, we can now prepare the Summer Special and look forward to welcoming filmmakers and jury members who can make the journey to Berlin in June,” comment the directors of the Berlinale, Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, on their recent decision.

The Berlin International Film Festival is now working at full speed to implement the outdoor festival concept. Hygiene and security plans have been developed and will be coordinated in close dialogue with the venues. The Summer Special will celebrate its opening on June 9 at the main venue at Museum Island Berlin, and on June 13, the awards ceremony will take place following the decisions of the official juries already made in March. In addition, the Berlinale Documentary Award, sponsored by Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg and endowed with 40,000 euros, and the GWFF Best First Feature Award, sponsored by the Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrechten and endowed with 50,000 euros, will also be awarded at the main venue at Museum Island Berlin. Other special events at the Museum Island Berlin venue may be added to the schedule of award ceremonies and film premieres.

The Summer Special will also offer selected screenings for younger audiences. Furthermore, the Children’s and Youth Juries of the Generation section, inactive in March due to the pandemic, will watch the competition films of Kplus and 14plus for the Summer Special, and award the Crystal Bears to the winning films during the event.

The Summer Special programme will be available at www.berlinale.de as of May 20. Ticket sales will start on May 27.

The films of the Berlinale Summer Special will be screened at these open-air cinema locations:

Freiluftkino Museumsinsel

Location: Bodestr. 1-3, 10178 Berlin

Freiluftkino Friedrichshain

Location: Volkspark Friedrichshain, 10249 Berlin

Freiluftkino Rehberge
Location: Volkspark Rehberge, 13351 Berlin

Freiluftkino Kreuzberg

Location: Hof des Kunstquartier Bethanien am Mariannenplatz, entrance via Adalbertstraße, 10997 Berlin

Freiluftkino Hasenheide

Location: Volkspark Hasenheide, 10967 Berlin

ARTE Sommerkino Kulturforum

Location: Matthäikirchplatz 4/6, 10785 Berlin

ARTE Sommerkino Schloss Charlottenburg

Location: Spandauer Damm 10-22, 14059 Berlin

Open Air Kino HKW 

Location: John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Berlin

silent green 

Location: Gerichtstr. 35, 13347 Berlin

The open-air screenings will also take place in following “Kiez-Kino” cinemas:

Atelier Gardens Freiluftkino @ BUFA

Location: Oberlandstr. 26-35, 12099 Berlin

Freilichtbühne Weißensee

Location: Große Seestr.10, 13086 Berlin

Freiluftkino Biesdorfer Parkbühne

Location: Schlosspark Biesdorf, Nordpromenade 5, 12683 Berlin

Freiluftkino Friedrichshagen

Location: Hinter dem Kurpark 13, 12587 Berlin

Freiluftkino Pompeji

Location: Laskerstr. 5, 10245 Berlin

Freiluftkino of Filmrauschpalast

Location: Lehrterstr. 35, 10557, Berlin  

Frischluftkino@Studentendorf

Location: Wasgenstraße 75, 14129 Berlin