The 76th annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, took place from 12 and 22 February 2026 in Berlin, Germany. German filmmaker Wim Wenders was named the Jury President for the main competition.
Yellow Letters by ðlker ÃÂatak 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.
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 in the opening days of the festival, resulting in 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 timeâÂÂwhen 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 âÂÂcensoring artists who oppose IsraelâÂÂs ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the German stateâÂÂs key role in enabling itâÂÂ, 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 is holding us back from having important conversations about the government that is currently in power in Israel".
Yeoh's refusal to comment on the U.S. government's ongoing mass deportation program was also met with further controversy.
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.
Syrian-Palestinian 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. During his speech the filmmaker, who lives in Germany, criticized the German and Israeli governments and their involvements in the Gaza War, 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 faces 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 GermanyâÂÂs responsibilities regarding antisemitism and support for Israel.
The following films were selected for the main competition for the Golden Bear on 20 January 2026:
The following films are selected for the Berlinale Special screening:
14 films will be competing for the Best First Feature Award. The following films were selected for the second edition of the Perspectives section:
The following films were selected for the Short Films Competition and nominated for the Short Film Golden Bear:
The following films were selected for the Panorama section:
The following films were selected for the Forum section:
The following short films and exhibitions works were selected for the Forum Expanded section:
The following films were selected for the Generation sections:
Featuring restored prints of classic productions or underseen gems, the following films were selected for the Berlinale Classics section:
The 2026's Berlinale Retrospective section celebrates a special decade: the 1990s. The following films were selected:
A special section as part of the 40 years celebration of the Teddy Award, featuring critically acclaimed queer productions. The following films were selected: