Inside the Berlinale Machine of Cultural Control
Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth
Courtesy of Astra Marina Cabras
Courtesy of LA Art Show
Courtesy of Lukas Gansterer
Courtesy of Henge
Courtesy of Andreas Simopoulos
Courtesy of Dave Benett
Courtesy of Japan Mobility Show
Courtesy of ART Cologne
Courtesy of whenobjectswork / Kate Hume
Courtesy of Ivan Erofeev
Courtesy of Stéphane ABOUDARAM - WE ARE CONTENT(S)
Courtesy of Sacha Moreau / Global Gift Gala Monaco
Courtesy of Fadi Al Shami
Courtesy of Sofia Hartmann
Courtesy of Historyhd
Courtesy of Mick De Paola
Courtesy of the artist (c) VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025. Photography by Jens Ziehe.
Courtesy of Yasamine June
Courtesy of Rawisara Prachaksubhanit
Courtesy of Mariia Dred for Berlin Fashion Week
Courtesy of Michael Fousert
Courtesy of Raden Prasetya
Courtesy of Antonia Tewes
Courtesy of Antonia Tewes
Courtesy of Carlo Bazzo
Courtesy of Artem Zakharov
Courtesy of James Cochrane / Copenhagen Fashion Week SS26
Courtesy of Fashion Week Studio
Courtesy of Burak Goraler / AFW
Courtesy of Antonia Tewes
Courtesy of SF / Luigi Caputo
Courtesy of Bruno Cordioli / CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Courtesy of Dubai Fashion Week / Ruzaini Official
Courtesy of Frieze Seoul 2025 / Wecap Studio
Courtesy of LecartPhotos
Courtesy of Jacopo Salvi / La Biennale di Venezia / ASAC Photo
Courtesy of Campione d’Italia’s Classic Circuit
Courtesy of Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup
Courtesy of Jochem Raat
Courtesy of Corey Watson
Courtesy of Pitti Immagine / Fragranze
Courtesy of Le Sable
Courtesy of Once Milano
Courtesy of Monaco Yacht Show
Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America
Courtesy of Guy Bell / British Art Fair
Photo by Sean Zanni / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Courtesy of Messe München GmbH / Thomas Plettenberg
Courtesy of ph G Martin-Raget/SNST
Courtesy of David Pupăză
Courtesy of Derek Rose
Courtesy of Jim Winslet
Courtesy of Millie Turner/BFI
Photo by Hugo Glendinning. Courtesy of Frieze
Courtesy of Rolex / Kurt Arrigo
Courtesy of Laura Dupuy
Courtesy of Palm Beach Show Group
Courtesy of Getty Images for Perelman Perfor
Courtesy of BFA 2025
Images credited Jason Alden courtesy of LAPADA
Courtesy of Informa Markets
Courtesy of The Qatar Boat Show
Courtesy of Getty Images for Baby2Baby
Courtesy of Jeanne Canto
Courtesy of Darian DiCianno
Courtesy of David Long/Cancer Research UK
Courtesy of Saslong Classic Club
Courtesy of Dieter Nagl für die Wiener Philharmoniker
Courtesy of Derek Rose
Courtesy of Lukas Gansterer
Courtesy of Sam Frost
Courtesy of Sandra Weller / Berlinale
A
T
I
T
S
I
O
O
T
M
I
L
L
L
C
S
S
T
T
A
T
H
F
T
E
F
O
A
T
F
I
T
T
T
T
I
I
T
I
O
P
S
A
S
U
O
A
E
G
B
I
A
I
L
I
T
M
O
G
U
I
L
S
N
I
D
U
T
A
F
I
W
F
O
A
A
M
L
I
V
I
I
S
A
J
he Berlinale operates as one of the major film festivals where external pressures are deliberately integrated into the programme’s rhythm. In February 2026, this approach surfaced through a sequence of screenings, market activities and ceremonies that framed political films as central.
Positioned in the winter calendar slot, the event serves a distinct role in the international circuit: it sustains a platform for arthouse works that engage with power structures, distinct from more market-driven or glamour-focused counterparts. The 76th edition ran from 12 to 22 February under artistic director Tricia Tuttle, with the European Film Market operating in parallel from 12 to 18 February. This overlap underscores the festival’s dual function, artistic curation alongside industry infrastructure, sustained for filmmakers, distributors and institutions seeking environments where critique can circulate alongside deal-making.
Protocol shaped the event’s meaning from the outset. The opening at the Berlinale Palast set the tone with a gala premiere, followed by daily competition screenings introduced through structured red-carpet sequences. Market sessions ran concurrently, creating deliberate contrast between commercial negotiations and public programming. The awards ceremony on 21 February served as the culminating ritual, transforming individual wins into collective statements through timed speeches and jury remarks. Timing and sequencing here disciplined reception: urgency was channelled into measured intervals that aligned external discourse with the festival’s curated selectivity.
The competition selection positioned two Turkish-language dramas at the centre of the International Jury’s decisions. Execution involved 22 features drawn from 28 countries, with İlker Çatak’s Yellow Letters receiving the Golden Bear and Emin Alper’s Salvation the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. This outcome revealed the festival’s logic: curation favours narratives that examine state mechanisms of control, positioning them as reflective tools.
The closing ceremony extended this framing through prepared interventions. Wim Wenders, as jury president, delivered remarks contrasting cinematic empathy with affective digital language, while acceptance speeches referenced broader geopolitical fractures. Execution followed established protocol, awards presented in sequence at the Berlinale Palast, yet the content signalled how the format sustains relevance by allowing participants to refract external realities without altering the event’s disciplined structure.
The European Film Market recorded a measured five-percent increase in participants while the artistic programme proceeded. Execution maintained separation between market operations and competition screenings, with both running in overlapping windows. This arrangement revealed the underlying ecosystem: commercial scale supports the sustained staging of critical cinema, ensuring the festival’s positioning without subordinating one to the other.
The Berlinale’s format continues to discipline political material through precise timing and ritualised amplification, revealing more about the controlled circulation of relevance in cultural institutions than about any external transformation.
Exclusivity doesn’t live in noise, it lives in the flow.
