Documentary films in Berlin

Treat Me Like Your Mother(2025)

Documentary

Four trans women from Lebanon—Em Abed, Jamal Abdo, Antonella, and Mama Jad—recount lives shaped by resilience, love, and loss. Their stories span from the groundbreaking state-funded gender-affirming surgery of 1997 to the disappearance of Beirut’s once-safe queer spaces. Through personal photographs, archival footage, and recollections of places like the Raouche strip, their voices resurrect a forgotten history of community and survival amid war and oppression. Interwoven with the filmmaker’s own journey of self-discovery, this intimate documentary traces four decades of trans life in Beirut, celebrating friendship, identity, and the enduring spirit of chosen family.

She(2025)

Documentary

A choral narrative about female workers in one of the largest electronic industrial plants based in Vietnam.

Tales of the Wounded Land(2025)

Documentary

As war engulfs South Lebanon, a family flees their home while bombs reduce their town to ruins. Returning to devastation, they find only fragments of what once was, yet among the wreckage, the community clings to a fragile hope that peace and renewal will come.

The Day Iceland Stood Still(2024)

Documentary

When 90% of Iceland’s women walked off the job and out of their homes one morning in 1975, they brought their country to its knees and catapulted Iceland to the forefront of today's global fight for gender equality. Unexpectedly funny, laced with evocative animation and powerfully told by the women who lived it – this is the true story of 12 hours that launched a revolution.

River Dreams(2026)

Documentary

Young women imagine themselves as a river: what starts off as a poetic metaphor is linked to images of landscape and becomes a many-voiced narration, radically morphing into a political statement. The Kazakh woman, she prefers life without man.

Our Children(1989)

Documentary

From an official perspective, marginal youth culture did not exist in East Germany. The topic of subcultures was taboo in the GDR, and groups such as goths, skinheads, anti-skins, punks and neo-Nazis were dismissed as social deviations promoted by western countries. Director Roland Steiner had access to such young East Germans in the late 1980s. Over the course of four years, he brought them before the camera in an attempt to understand what drew them to these groups.

Whispers in the Woods(2025)

Documentary

In the heart of the tranquil Vosges forests, where lynxes, bears and deer roam freely, Vincent Munier accompanies his father on his expeditions. He not only seeks to capture the visual wonders of this forest kingdom, but also aims to make its sounds audible. Every whisper of the forest is a reminder of the knowledge of nature that his father once imbued in him – knowledge that Vincent now passes on to his own son. Vincent Munier combines breathtaking footage of nature and its sounds to create a fairytale-like cinematic experience that slows time down.

With Hasan in Gaza(2025)

Documentary, War

Three MiniDV tapes of life in Gaza from 2001 were recently rediscovered. What started as a search for a former prison mate from 1989 led to an unexpected road trip from the north to the south of Gaza with Hasan, a local guide whose fate remains unknown.

Berlin - Prenzlauer Berg(1990)

Documentary

The Prenzlauer Berg district in the former East Berlin was a particularly intense example of the "short summer of anarchy" on the heels of the fall of the Wall. This merry, teary swan song is a pastiche of dancing seniors, revelling bohemians, transvestites from the West, and Balkan musicians. On a more serious note, we hear from women in positions of responsibility – workers at a state-run textile factory, as well as the owner of a clothing store fear for their financial future, while the lady boss at Konnopke's snack bar eagerly accepts her first payment in West German marks.

Antarctica(2020)

Documentary

Antarctica is the most extreme continent on our planet—higher, colder, and even drier than any other on Earth, and although it is thousands of miles away, what happens here affects every single one of us.

Sirens Call(2025)

Documentary, Drama, Science Fiction

In their feature-length debut, Gossing/Sieckmann dive into the merfolk subculture with performance artist and siren Una. Genre elements, fiction and documentary, self-care, political activism and self-chosen identities blend into one another.

The Kick(2005)

Documentary

The neo-Nazi brothers Marco and Marcel Schönfeld from Potzlow have their sights set on the 16-year-old Marinus Schöberl, who stutters. They consider Marinus to be a so-called "subhuman".

Velvet Terrorists(2013)

Documentary

Part documentary, part mockumentary and part stranger-than-fiction lesson in guerilla tactics, Velvet Terrorists is a quirky profile of three very different men and their former attempts to take down the communist regime of Czechoslovakia – by blowing the hell out of it. Having all spent time in prison for their crimes, one-time bombers Stanislav, Frantisek and Vladimir muse on their personal histories, the fall of the regime and their journey into middle age.

Bobò(2025)

Documentary, Drama

The true story of Bobò, a deaf-mute, illiterate, and microcephalic man whom Pippo Delbono met in the mental asylum of Aversa, where Bobò lived for 46 years.

Un Natale a casa Croce(2024)

Documentary

Christmas 1951. In the vast halls of Palazzo Filomarino, in the heart of Naples, the elderly Benedetto Croce is surrounded for the last time by his loved ones, his wife, daughters, and grandchildren. Among them is the youngest, Benedetta Craveri, now a famous writer, who takes us into the life of her grandfather: a philosopher, historian, and literary critic who dominated a century of Italian life with a culture as vast as the library in his home.

Stau – Jetzt geht’s los(1992)

Documentary

A group of young people in Halle-Neustadt moving aimlessly between the concrete blocks once built as a socialist model housing estate. Familiar certainties dissolved along with the GDR. Even though there were hardly any foreigners in Saxony-Anhalt, a dull aversion to everything that hadn’t been part of daily life until then began to spread. The general dissolution, perceived as a threat, is countered by apparently clear world views. When Thomas Heise won the “Documentary Film Prize 1992” at the Duisburger Filmwoche, the laudation ended with the assumption that the film would probably provoke disagreement. It turned out to be true.

Nelly & Nadine(2022)

Documentary

Nelly and Nadine meet in Ravensbrück concentration camp. They spend the rest of their lives together. Decades later, Nelly’s granddaughter goes in search of clues. A poignant film about a love story and the need for individual and collective remembrance.

Narrow Path to Happiness(2023)

Documentary

A young gay Romani couple from a remote village in Hungary has a dream so absurd that it seems impossible: making a musical film based on their lives.

Power to the People: John & Yoko Live in NYC(2024)

Documentary, Music

John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with Elephant's Memory and Special Guests performed these now-legendary sold-out One To One concerts to a combined audience of 40,000 people, raising over $1.5M for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They were the only full-length concerts John Lennon (with Yoko Ono) performed after leaving The Beatles.

The Stamp Thief(2025)

Documentary

A Hollywood filmmaker learns of a treasure trove of priceless stamps stolen by a Nazi officer from concentration camp victims and buried in a house in Poland.

Flana(2025)

Documentary

Zahraa returns to her childhood home in Baghdad, haunted by the disappearance of her friend Noor twenty years ago. During her search, she meets Laila (22) at the same shelter where Noor was last seen. Zahraa discovers that many girls are abandoned by their mothers due to gender-based violence. She realizes how the war on Iraq reinforced patriarchal systems, compelling mothers to leave their baby daughters behind in a society that rejects them.

Know Hope(2025)

Documentary

Israeli street-artist Addam Yekutieli kept his anonymity and signed his works with the pseudonym "Know Hope". He began drawing human-like characters that rapidly gained attention and granted him the title the "Israeli Banksy". But when he experiences an eruption of autoimmune arthritis, he is forced to rethink his artwork in light of his new physical disability. The film documents moments in which a personal human drama generates art and political action. The anonymity of the hit-and-run street artist is replaced with intensive and intimate social interactions, exploring how painful memories and experiences may be alleviated through art.

The Lions by the River Tigris(2025)

Documentary

In Mosul, a city devastated during the battle for liberation from the Islamic State, the fight to heal and preserve its identity, culture, and art is not over. Three men refuse to let Mosul remain in ruins. A city with 8,000 years of history, struggling to reclaim its soul through those who refuse to let it fade into oblivion.

Active Vocabulary(2025)

Documentary

A Russian teacher criticizes the Russian invasion of Ukraine in class and is denounced by a pupil. After fleeing, she re-enacts the incident with her Berlin class.

A Jewish Problem(2025)

Documentary

Key events of the war on Gaza have left their traces in this filmmaker's family history. When he arrives in Berlin, he learns to distrust his own perceptions.

Controluce(2024)

Documentary

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Exprmntl 4 Knokke(1967)

Documentary, TV Movie

Turn of the year 1967/68: at the fourth EXPRMNTL festival in the Belgian seaside resort of Knokke, the film documents spontaneous performances, happenings and protest actions, capturing – only a few months before May ’68 – the harbingers of cultural upheaval.

Fucking Different Generations(2026)

Documentary

A queer anthology that explores sexuality, intimacy, and identity across age groups. Conceived as a collaborative project, the film brings together filmmakers from different generations, each directing a short segment portraying encounters between younger and older men. Through these stories, the film examines how attitudes toward desire, relationships, and queer identity shift over time. Moments of curiosity, misunderstanding, attraction, and vulnerability reveal both the gaps and the connections between generations shaped by different social climates. By juxtaposing perspectives formed in eras of repression with those emerging in more open contexts, the film reflects on how LGBTQ+ experiences evolve while shared needs for intimacy, recognition, and connection remain constant. The result is a provocative and intimate mosaic about age, memory, and the changing landscape of queer life.

In the Light of the Sands(2026)

Documentary

As a bird warden, Kilian spends seven months alone on a barrier island in the Heligoland Bight. His tasks are simple: monitoring wildlife and collecting flotsam. The rich birdlife, extreme weather and ever-changing landscape are conveyed both through imagery and a soundtrack of wind, rain and birdsong. Contact with others is rare, but the intrusion of the outside world is all the more striking. The film’s melancholic atmosphere echoes both solitude and a sense that this fragile sanctuary is deeply at risk. Beyond its precise observations, an essay on climate change and militarisation emerges.

Intersection – It's Political(2025)

Documentary

Facing up to discrimination and reviving deadlocked debates? Finding alliances outside of one's bubble? Six strong voices seek (and find) answers together.

Mothers(2025)

Documentary

Mothers talk about their experiences. What is expected of them, what personal and social challenges do they face? Everything is represented: from nuclear families to single parents, homosexual parent constellations to motherhood through artificial insemination. Layer by layer, outdated and inverted role models and also the break with social norms become visible. Motherhood between backbreaking work and euphoria.

Nel blu dipinti di rosso(2025)

Documentary

Nothing Remains Nothing Disappears(2026)

Documentary

A Berlin street corner is slowly changing: an aging supermarket turns into a construction site and finally a new building. People restock shelves, demolish walls, take breaks and count money. Those who work here participate in the making and unmaking of the place. How does it shape the conditions of their labor? Between supermarket aisles, construction scaffolding and exposed concrete, different versions begin to overlap. Repetitions appear like echoes between worlds, both playful and eerie.

Oceania: Journey to the Center(2024)

Documentary

The brutal impact of climate change drives this beautiful, intense documentary; as sea levels rise, the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati faces predictions that it will be uninhabitable by 2030. Oceania weaves breathtaking natural footage with the struggles of people navigating an environment that is slipping away. We follow along as the population wrestles with indisputable scientific data and struggles with the emotional dimensions of this fast-moving emergency. As the story unfolds, we learn more about the fragmented histories and disparate experiences of the people affected by the calamity. Highlighting the overwhelming truths all around, the film asks serious questions and ponders realistic calls to action as a community struggles to stay afloat.

Sediments(2025)

Documentary

The traces of a family, and the entanglements of two dictatorships.

The Spies Who Ruined Our Lives(2024)

Documentary

For over 40 years, a secret organization spied on British citizens. This secret organization infiltrated over 1000 groups they wanted to spy on. To achieve this, they created new personas by stealing the identities of dead children. They used these new personalities to start relationships with women. They also used their new identities to have sex with women and In some cases, they even had children. Then once they had what they wanted, they abandoned the women and vanished without trace. The women wouldn't find out the truth until decades later. The men were in fact, undercover police officers who were infiltrating completely lawful groups.

Weißer Rauch über Schwarze Pumpe(2025)

Documentary

In 1991, the Schwarze Pumpe energy centre in Lusatia is phased out. Tens of thousands lose their jobs, hoping for better times. Today, the dirt and feelings of the past keep coming up.

woman/mOther(2025)

Documentary

Since the birth of her child, dancer Mara has been feeling lonely and disconnected from her creativity. Together with the director, her friend Klara, she is finally planning another dance performance.

Azza(2026)

Documentary

Wie kann Azza als saudische Frau ihre Unabhängigkeit gewinnen? Die Protagonistin des Films würde antworten: mit Geschick. Mit 16 verheiratet und heute Mutter von vier Teenagern, träumt sie von der Befreiung aus einer gescheiterten Ehe. Aus ihrer Familie ausgeschlossen und auf sich selbst gestellt, bemüht sie sich, ihre finanzielle Unabhängigkeit zu bewahren, indem sie als Fahrlehrerin für Frauen arbeitet. Hinter dem Steuer eines großen SUVs fühlt sie sich selbstbewusst und meistert – genau wie auf der Straße – die Hindernisse des Lebens: mangelnde Bildung, unsichere Arbeitsverhältnisse, Ausgrenzung durch die Familie und die Trennung von ihren Kindern. Sie tut alles, um sicherzustellen, dass ihre Töchter nicht das durchmachen müssen, was sie selbst erlebt hat. Sie träumt von einer Reise durch die Wüste. Dieses Abenteuer wird zu einer Möglichkeit, sowohl ihr Land als auch sich selbst zu entdecken. Das Autofahren erweist sich als Mittel zur Freiheit – genau wie für viele andere Frauen.

Daughters of the Sun(2023)

Documentary

‘We were enslaved, sold in markets and raped,’ says one girl. ‘But they could not extinguish the light in our hearts.’ In 2014, Islamic State fighters kidnapped Yazidi girls from their villages in the mountains of Kurdistan, forcibly converted them to Islam and sold them as sex slaves to terrorists. Some of the girls were not even 14 years old. Today, many of them have been freed. With mutual love and support, they find the strength to look to the future once more and rebuild their lives in a refugee camp. Theatre-maker ‘Uncle Hussein’ helps them. He cries with them – and makes them laugh. Together they learn to deal with their deep trauma. ( Human Rights Film Festival )

Exhibition on Screen: Turner und Constable

Documentary

Ingeborg Bachmann – Jemand, der einmal ich war(2026)

Documentary

Interspersed with scenes featuring historical material, the film portrays a lonely Bachmann in Rome—writing, smoking, suffering from circulatory issues, and on the verge of losing her mind. Tom Dorow

Insekten - Helden im Verborgenen(2026)

Documentary

Wie ist unsere Welt entstanden? Unter unseren Füßen verbirgt sich eine Tierklasse, die weitaus größer ist als jede andere. Begeben wir uns auf eine Zeitreise, die vor 400 Millionen Jahren beginnt, und erleben wir, wie die Puzzleteile zu einem Ganzen verschmelzen. Insekten - Helden im Verborgenen nimmt uns mit in den Mikrokosmos, in atemberaubende Bilderwelten, erzählt von Schauspielikone Katharina Thalbach, und stellt die Frage: Muss es ein "Mensch ODER Natur" sein?

Joe Dilworth – A Life in Stills(2026)

Documentary

Und es war Sommer - Dieter Thomas Kuhn & Band

Documentary

Regisseurin Juliane Sauter begleitet den Tübinger Schlagersänger und seine achtköpfige Band auf ihrer Open-Air-Tournee 2024 quer durch Deutschland.