The Berlin Independent Film Festival is at the epicentre for low-budget filmmaking in Europe. While the Berlin Independent Film Festival is not connected with the Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale), BIFF runs at the same time, and not far from the European Film Market and draws on all the film industry power gathered in Berlin for those events.

BIFF takes place at the Babylon Cinema in downtown Berlin. As well as a offering plenty of screening opportunities for indie films, BIFF is developing into a crucial business hub for the low-budget film industry. BIFF hosts workshops and networking social events where attending filmmakers help each other out with marketing advice and EFM tips.

With an emphasis on showcasing new filmmakers achieving great things with tiny budgets, BIFF’s exciting programme of films and events combines a commitment to indie filmmaking ideals with a solid understanding of their potential in the marketplace.

Awards & Prizes

Awards in the following categories:
Best Feature (over £100k)
Best Micro-budget Feature (under £100k)
Best No-Budget Feature (under £10k)
Best Documentary
Best Sci-Fi / Horror Feature
Best Female Director Feature
Best LGBT film
Best Short Film
Best Short Documentary
Best Animated Short
Best Experimental Short
Best Horror / Sci-Fi Short
Best Music Video
Screenplay Award categories:

Best Feature Screenplay
Best Sci-Fi / Horror Screenplay
Best Comedy Screenplay

Rules & Terms

*Preview format should be digital submission, either through a submission platform, or via a hosting platform like Vimeo. If digital submission is impossible for you, drop us an email and we'll work something out.
*If you are submitting more than one entry, a separate submission is required for each film.

Please send any related press materials, including electronic press kit, and photos to info@berlinfest.com

38 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Victor Martini

    Thank you to the festival for inviting us and showing our film "Divorce Day". It was a lot of fun and it was great to see our movie again on the big screen.

    March 2023
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  • Melika Rezapour

    Thanks for the great festival and giving me the opportunity to be a part of the festival

    March 2023
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  • Julian Isfort

    Amazing Festival and we are so grateful and honored for the prize for Best Comedy Short! Hope to see you all again soon.

    March 2023
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  • Nurcan Ercan Faulk

    Thank you so much for making our first short film "Hadi, Go!" part of this great festival - and honouring it with the prize for Best Short Documentary! Celebrating our premiere at the Babylon cinema was one of the true highlights of 2023 for us. And we were able to meet so many interesting, talented filmmakers at the social events you organised. Framing all of this was the excellent communication with the festival organising team. You guided us well, which made enjoying the events that much easier. We're grateful to have been a part of the BIFF experience!

    February 2023
    Helpful
  • Darcy Yuille

    Was a complete pleasure to screen in competition at a festival in. Berlin. Our smartphone feature film ONE PUNCH was accepted up we had the chance for a different audience to see our story. Unfortunately it was online, as many festivals have been lately, but we appreciated the effort by the organisers to keep going through the tough times and share these films with the world. Thanks team!

    March 2022
    Helpful