Celebrating 'True-Indie' Filmmaking & Connecting Global Talent
The Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival runs in roughly the same window as the Berlinale, and that timing is on purpose. While the industry’s eyes are on the big names across town, Berlin Lift-Off gets the city’s emerging filmmakers in a room together, networking in Berlin to build the indie scene from the ground up.
It’s made for filmmakers near the start: first and second films, shorts, low-budget features, work with something to say. Berlin has always made space for bold, political, form-bending cinema, and the festival leans into exactly that.
Every selected film screens online to a global audience, and the festival runs alongside in-person and online networking, so you leave with real contacts and conversations. Films that stand out in Berlin go forward to the Lift-Off Season Awards at the end of the year, judged across all 12 city festivals.
Berlin Lift-Off Season #17 screened in February 2026. Submissions are now open on FilmFreeway for Season #18. Selected films get an online screening to a global audience, and entry to the festival’s networking events. Standout films get a place in the Berlin Network Round, and winners are shortlisted for the 17th Lift-Off Season Awards.
Recent Winners
Festival Events
Each festival hosts a series of online and in-person events, connecting filmmaking talent across the globe
Focus Group Feedback
Meet fellow filmmakers, exchange feedback and discuss your projects. Focus Group participants attend an online meeting to pitch their work before participating in the Feedback Session.
In-Person Networking Speeddate
Join us in the city for a showcase & networking event held in conjunction with the festival’s online screenings. Attendees chat to everyone in the room in a 'speed-date' style networking session.
Online Networking SpeedDate
Pitch your future projects or share previous work. Attendees can screen a trailer or pitch deck before meeting with everyone in a 'speed-date' style network session.
Questions?
Once a year, around the same time as the Berlinale in February.
Emerging independent filmmakers, especially first and second-time directors working in shorts and low-budget features.
Films screen online to a global audience, with in-person networking in Berlin alongside the festival.
Through FilmFreeway: Click here.
Winning films are shortlisted for the Lift-Off Season Awards, judged at the end of the season across all 12 city festivals.