The Berlin International Film Festival has announced a new screening venue, close to Potsdamer Platz, for its 2025 edition. The Stage Bluemax Theater on Marlene-Dietrich-Platz will be converted into a premiere screening venue, sitting around 500, in time for the 75th Berlinale, which runs from Feburary 13- 23. The new venue, within spitting distance of the festival’s main venue, the Berlinale Palast, will become the home of the newly created Perspectives first feature competition, as well as hosting key premieres from other Berlinale sections.
Festival organizers also announced plans for a new, temporary, festival hub, the Berlinale HUB75, to be erected at Marlene-Dietrich-Platz during the festival which will host a series of free morning talks and events for Berlin audiences and provide a networking space for industry and filmmaker guests.
The moves are part of the Berlinale’s efforts to bring the festival back to Potsdamer Platz. The closure of some key screens in the Berlin neighborhood resulted in the festival losing around 150,000 screening seats, a capacity they compensated for by moving screenings to farther-flung theaters around the city.
“Since the closure and redevelopment of key cinemas in 2022, Berlinale has missed some of its former presence and buzz around our center in Potsdamer Platz,” said Berlinale festival director Tricia Tuttle-. “These new venues are part of our longer-term plans to recreate a more readily walkable festival heart, and inject additional energy and visibility back into this central hub.
