Doc.Berlin Documentary Film Festival

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).