Fantasy Filmfest White Nights Berlin

Three Seasonalities of a Festival

The Fantasy Filmfest exists in three different formats: the main festival in late summer (eight cities, hundreds of films), the Nights in spring (a more compact edition), and the White Nights in the dead of winter. The White Nights are the smallest, most intimate version – an extended weekend with around ten films, exclusively at the Zoo Palast in Berlin (and parallel in some other major cities).

The Zoo Palast as Home Venue

The Zoo Palast on Hardenbergstraße is one of Berlin's most traditional arthouse cinemas. Opened in 1957, and the Berlinale's premiere cinema for decades, it is now one of the most beautiful and atmospheric premiere cinemas in the city. For the Fantasy Filmfest and its sub-formats, the Zoo Palast is the home venue – a cinema that works particularly well with genre cinema.

The 2026 Programme

Ten films from the current international genre cinema. Confirmed among others: 'Dolly', 'Crazy Old Lady' with Carmen Maura, 'Shelby Oaks' (Mike Flanagan), 'Deathgasm: Goremaggedon', 'Every Heavy Thing', 'The Holy Boy', 'Decorado', 'Dust Bunny' with Mads Mikkelsen and 'My Daughter Is a Zombie' (Korea's 2025 blockbuster). A mix of world and German premieres, festival hits, and eagerly awaited genre highlights.

A Community That Knows Itself

The audience of the Fantasy Filmfest series is its own subculture: regular attendees, often for decades, connected via forums and meetups. They travel from all over Germany, know the organisers personally, and applaud the opening trailers. This makes the festival emotionally different from regular cinema visits – more of a community event than a film appointment.