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Team

A festival can only come to life through dedicated teamwork. It is through the collaboration of many people that our guests and audience can enjoy a truly unique experience. At the Kurdish Film Festival, in addition to the festival management and our partner institutions, the program coordinators, technical staff, and numerous volunteers all contribute to ensuring that everything runs smoothly. Each individual plays a valuable role in making the festival a complete success and creating unforgettable moments.

About

The Kurdish Film Festival Berlin was launched in June 2002 and has since become an established fixture in Berlin’s festival landscape. The inaugural edition took place at the Babylon Kino Mitte, organized by Babylonia e.V. under the direction of filmmaker Mehmet Aktaş. Over ten days, 29 films from Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Greece, Israel, the USA, Armenia, France, Germany, and Switzerland were presented, exploring Kurdish realities and fiction. The festival’s first media partners were taz and Radio Multikulti.

Founded under the patronage of then Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit, it was the first festival of its kind worldwide. From the beginning, it has promoted international visibility for Kurdish cinema and strengthened cultural diversity in the heart of Europe. In a historical context where Kurdish language and culture were suppressed or banned for decades across the four parts of Kurdistan, Berlin became a space for free artistic expression. The festival developed into a platform for democratic participation, cultural self-representation, and transnational dialogue.

The first edition was dedicated to legendary filmmaker Yılmaz Güney, who brought Kurdish perspectives to an international audience. Classics such as Yol – Der Weg and Sürü – Die Herde were screened, and the opening film was the award-winning Zeit der trunkenen Pferde by Iranian-Kurdish director Bahman Ghobadi.

Since 2004, the festival has been organized by the Berlin-based production and distribution company mîtosfilm – Aktas & Gallico (today Aktas & Hajo GbR), sometimes in cooperation with the Sprachenatelier Berlin. Continuous financial support from the Berlin Senate – including the Hauptstadtkulturfonds, the LOTTO-Stiftung Berlin, and multi-year festival grants – has been essential for the festival’s long-term establishment. This support highlights Berlin’s cultural policy commitment to promoting diversity, amplifying marginalized voices, and strengthening international cultural networks.

In addition to Babylon Kino Mitte, the Eiszeit Kino served as a venue for several years. Since its closure in 2018, the Moviemento in Kreuzkölln – Germany’s oldest cinema – and the fsk Kino in Kreuzberg have hosted festival screenings.

From September 25 to October 1, 2026, the 16th edition will take place at Babylon Mitte. Around 60 feature, documentary, and short films will be shown, accompanied by discussions, panels, and opportunities for interaction between filmmakers and audiences.

The 2026 festival focus – “Kurds in the Soviet Union – Between Memory, Identity, and Renewal” – explores a little-told story, examining how Kurdish identity developed under Soviet political conditions, balancing repression and support, cultural self-assertion, memory, and artistic expression.

Today, the Kurdish Film Festival Berlin is recognized well beyond the Kurdish community. With its program of short, documentary, experimental, and feature films, a short film competition supporting emerging Kurdish voices, and an international online offering, it remains a vibrant platform for exchange, visibility, and cultural self-determination.