Now in its 24th season, the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival is the leading and largest festival of contemporary German cinema in the Americas. With an annual attendance of over 10,000 film-goers, the festival has presented over 500 motion pictures from German-speaking countries in its history. It has welcomed to the San Francisco screen and stage many celebrated international film talents, including Mario Adorf, Fatih Akin, Moritz Bleibtreu, Daniel Brühl, Lars Eidinger, Hannelore Elsner, Florian David Fitz, Bruno Ganz, Maria Schrader, Tom Schilling, Barbara Sukowa, Michael Verhoeven, Simon Verhoeven, and Wim Wenders.
Since its inauguration in 1996, the main venue of the festival has always been the Castro Theatre, the famous movie palace which celebrated its 95th anniversary in 2017.
The festival is an annual tradition for San Francisco, and has been a gateway for the American public to experience the diversity, history and progress of German-speaking countries; while celebrating the universal spirit and vision of filmmakers from this global region.
The Berlin & Beyond Film Festival is presented by the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Berlin & Beyond, Inc. in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut San Francisco. The Goethe-Institut is Germany’s official cultural center in over 98 countries worldwide. The institute promotes art and films from Germany, the study of the German language, and encourages the international cultural exchange with Germany.