Name: Doc.Berlin Documentary Film Festival 2026
Start: 2026-12-10T00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-12-13T00:00:00+00:00
Location: Babylon Berlin Kino

Doc.Berlin

About Doc.Berlin

Doc.Berlin is an international documentary film festival held every December at the historic Babylon Berlin cinema in Mitte. Each edition showcases around 30 short and feature films that address current social issues—often focusing on subjects rarely featured in the international mainstream documentary market. Organized by the Velvet Room Project, which also operates sister festivals in London, Boston, and Sydney. Submission and program structure: four days of festival screenings at Babylon, complemented by online streaming of the films over an extended period (December). Venue: Babylon Berlin, Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße 30, 10178 Berlin-Mitte.

Dates 10 Dec — 13 Dec 2026

Venue Berlin (11000)

Prices 10.00€ — 15.00€

Status —

Edition 2026

Doc.Berlin — edition 2026

Tickets →

Doc.Berlin 2026: likely four festival days in December 2026 at Babylon Berlin in Mitte (Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße 30). Approximately 30 international short and feature documentaries on current social issues. Exact dates will be announced in Autumn 2026 by the organizer Velvet Room Project. Parallel online streaming component.

Doc.Berlin will again take place in 2026 at Babylon Berlin in the Mitte district. The exact dates are usually announced by the organizer Velvet Room Project in the summer/autumn — historically, the festival was held in December (2025: December 8–11).

As usual, four festival days are planned with around 30 short and feature films, alongside an online streaming component for the films over an extended period in December. Submissions are possible via filmfreeway.com/docberlin.

Highlights Doc.Berlin 2026

International documentary film festival at the historic Babylon Berlin, on-site and online streaming format, curatorial connection with sister festivals in London, Boston, and Sydney.

Programme Doc.Berlin 2026

Format (as in previous years)

Four festival days at Babylon Berlin (Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße 30, 10178 Berlin-Mitte)
Approximately 30 short and feature films in the selection
Q&A sessions with attending directors and producers
Online streaming of the films concurrently or subsequently, over an extended December period

Program Profile

International selection focusing on current social issues
Films from the Global South and marginalized communities
Topics include: migration, climate, geopolitics, identity, labor, new media

Program Announcement

The full 2026 program is typically released in Autumn 2026 on docberlin.org. Submissions for filmmakers are via filmfreeway.com/docberlin.

Official Website · Submissions · berlin.de

Prices Doc.Berlin 2026

Individual tickets historically €10–€15, festival pass available. Online streaming tickets sold separately. Exact 2026 prices will be published on docberlin.org.

Practical information

Practical information — Doc.Berlin

Getting There

U2 Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (3 min walk to Babylon). S+U Alexanderplatz (5 min walk). Tram M2/M5/M6/M8 stops directly at the square. By car: not a sensible option, Mitte is a restricted access zone.

Tickets

Tickets are available via Babylon and docberlin.org. Prices traditionally moderate, ranging from €10–€15 per screening, festival pass available. Online streaming tickets sold separately.

On Site

Classic repertory cinema experience, small auditoriums, good acoustics. Discussions with filmmakers after selected screenings. Bar in the foyer, cafés in the vicinity.

Documentary Festival with Global Networking

Doc.Berlin is part of the international festival network Velvet Room Project, which simultaneously hosts documentary film festivals in London, Boston, and Sydney. These four festivals partially share their program, selection jury, and submission platform—documentary filmmakers can submit once and be considered for selection at four festivals simultaneously. Doc.Berlin is thus part of a new generation of curatorially linked festivals that enable global visibility for independent documentary projects.

Venue: Babylon Berlin

The Babylon Berlin in Mitte is one of the city's historic cinemas—part of a listed building complex on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, opposite the Volksbühne. The venue regularly serves as a screening location for the Berlinale and has a reputation as a classic repertory cinema with a clear artistic mission. For Doc.Berlin, the connection with Babylon is central: a historic film theater in the heart of Berlin, with a tradition of programming and an audience accustomed to giving films the time they deserve.

Program Profile

Around 30 short and feature films per edition
International selection: films from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, North America
Focus on current social issues, often with political sharpness
Films from less-known production regions—Doc.Berlin consciously seeks voices from the Global South and marginalized communities
Examples 2025: “Yalla, Baba!” (Belgium/Lebanon/Netherlands/Qatar, directed by Angie Obeid), “Tokyo Toy Boy” (Belgium, directed by Esli Balatova)

Hybrid Format: Cinema + Online

Doc.Berlin is one of the festivals that have permanently adopted the hybrid format post-2020. The actual festival operations run for four days at Babylon, with films running concurrently or directly afterward online via stream for an extended period (typically from December 1st to 18th). This allows audiences who cannot physically travel to Berlin to experience the festival as well.

Mitte and the Babylon Quarter

Babylon is located on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, opposite the Volksbühne—one of the most culturally active points in the Mitte district. Visitors to the festival are three minutes' walk from Alexanderplatz, five minutes from Hackescher Markt, and in close proximity to numerous bars, restaurants, and Berlin's independent cinema scene (fsk, Lichtblick, Acud Kino—all nearby).