Berlin Film Festival Axes TV Series and German Movies Sections, Folds Them Into Overall Selection

The Berlin Film Festival has announced it is axing its Berlinale Series section dedicated to high-end TV series and its Perspektive Deutsches Kino sidebar that highlights up-and-coming German directors, as it faces budget cuts.

These strands will be now be folded into the festival’s existing sections — Competition, Encounters, Panorama, Generation and Forum — where the total number of titles that will screen is also being reduced.

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“Like many other areas of society, cultural institutions and festivals are affected by considerable cost increases but unchanged budgets,” said the fest’s executive director, Mariëtte Rissenbeek, and artistic director ,Carlo Chatrian, in a joint statement.

“Keeping this in mind, we must introduce structural adjustments to create a stable budgetary foundation for the organisation and implementation of the Berlinale going forward. This process brings with it the opportunity to optimise the presentation and perception of the invited films using a more focused programme,” the Berlinale’s co-chiefs added.

Monetary constraints aside, folding new German movies into the fest’s main program “aims to increase international visibility for debut and sophomore films produced in Germany,” the statement specified.

The total number of films and types of entries, such as TV series, will be reduced to approximately 200 — down from 287 in 2023.

Meanwhile, Berlin’s TV industry section, the Berlinale Series Market, will continue unchanged. In addition to the regular market infrastructure, its components include a conference program; the Berlinale Series Market Selects presentation, which shows a selection of international series with promising sales potential as market premieres; and international showcases.

The 74th Berlin International Film Festival will run Feb. 15-25, 2024.

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