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Penguin'sBerlin Guidefor vistors and residentsberlin.barwick.de & blog |
Movies and Cinemas in BerlinAs befits the home of the Berlinale, there's
no shortage of cinemas in Berlin - showing everything from the latest
blockbuster right through to obscure Basque-Finnish experimental
docu-dramas. (OK, we made that last one up, but you get the picture). Cinemas / Movie TheatersSee our page Cinemas / Movie Theaters for a list of venues showing films in English. ListingsBerlin cinemas update their schedules every Thursday, so new
listings usually printed become available from Tuesday or Wednesday for
the following seven days. Online listingsHere are some links to online movie listings for Berlin (all in German only, but easy enough to navigate): When using listings (both printed and on-line) to find a movie,
it's easy to see which ones won't be in German - check for the
following notations:
Note:
Cinema CultureBerlin was once Germany's Hollywood, the capital of German cinema, home to the nation's biggest movie company, the UFA, and stars such as Marlene Dietrich. The golden age of German and Berlin cinema was the interwar period, although following 1933 the Nazis gained a stranglehold over the industry and converted it in steps to a propaganda instrument. The Second World War pretty much killed off Berlin's film industry. The UFA fled to western Germany, and its interests in the GDR were taken over by the state-owned DEFA, which continued to operate out of the Babelsberg Studios - albeit with little international success. Following Berlin's reunification, the multiplexes came to town: purpose-built, multiscreen movie theaters sprung up in all the major centers. They filled a huge gap in the market, especially on the eastern side of the city, bringing mainstream cinema to more Berliners than ever before, vut at a price: the traditional cinemas, especially those along the Ku'damm were unable to compete and the turn of the century saw the great "Kinosterben" (film theatre die-off). Now the market is mainly divided up between the big multiplexes and smaller local / art-house cinemas. Nevertheless there's a huge choice of venues, and something for every taste. |