Ukrainian Film Festival Berlin 2026

The theme of this year’s festival is ‘Emergency Spaces’. The opening night, as well as the closing and awards ceremonies, will take place at the cinema in the Kulturbrauerei.

Under the theme ‘Emergency Spaces’, the festival explores spaces that offer orientation, refuge and solidarity in times of uncertainty and social upheaval.

‘Emergency Spaces’ takes us to those in-between spaces where reality blurs and, as in the films of David Lynch, hovers on the threshold between dream and the surreal. World events in recent years have seen one crisis follow another, so that our familiar reality seems increasingly alien and harder to grasp. This makes places of refuge and solidarity all the more important, as they also open up space for reflection and new perspectives on the future. An ‘Emergency Space’ is conceived as such a place – between a state of limbo on the one hand and solidarity and community on the other,” says Daria Buteiko, one of the three festival directors.

Since 2024, the UFFB has also been organising a short film competition that supports young Ukrainian filmmakers and helps to raise the international profile of their work. It will enter its third edition in 2026. Entries can be submitted via the FilmFreeway platform until 15 August 2026. In addition, the festival presents thematically curated short film programmes outside the competition.

As well as at the cinema in the Kulturbrauerei, screenings will take place at other Berlin cinemas and venues.

About the Ukrainian Film Festival Berlin

The Ukrainian Film Festival Berlin was founded in 2020 and has since developed into an important platform for contemporary Ukrainian cinema in Germany. With six successful editions of the festival, film series such as ‘Ukraine Known Unknown’, and numerous screenings of recent award-winning productions by Ukrainian filmmakers, the UFFB has made a significant contribution to the visibility and recognition of Ukrainian cinema. Alongside the screenings, the festival organises panel discussions with experts from Ukraine and Germany on the topics of film, culture, education and society.

The UFFB is funded by the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and collaborates with numerous partner institutions, including ARTE, the Dovzhenko Centre and the Institute for Eastern European Studies at the Free University of Berlin.

Festival opening on 14 October 2026

Cinema at the Kulturbrauerei, Schönhauser Allee 36, Berlin

• 6.30 pm – Doors open & reception
• 7.30 pm – Opening ceremony, screening of *The Illusion of a Quiet Night* (followed by a Q&A)
• Tickets HERE