Zwei Frauen bei einer Filmproduktion. Links sitzt eine Schwarze Frau mit und Afrofrisur auf einer Bank und liest ein Buch. Rechts steht eine weiße Frau mit braunen Haaren und hält eine Tonangel mit Mikrofon in Richtung der sitzenden Frau. Im Hintergrund in gelber Schrift: FILM SPECIAL-EFFECTS

Film Distribution

Our film distribution holdings comprise 22,000 German and international movies from 1895 to the present day. These can be loaned for screenings, and in some cases, are also available for TV and online licensing, or excerpts can be purchased. The majority of the holdings in our audiovisual collection are also available for viewing on-site in our institute.

Film orders

Our film loan database contains information on roughly 20,000 films. It is currently available only in German and can be found on the German-language version of our website. To order films, please use our electronic form and send it to disposition [at] deutsche-kinemathek.de (disposition[at]deutsche-kinemathek[dot]de).

  • Viewing dates

    By appointment only
    filmarchiv [at] deutsche-kinemathek.de (filmarchiv[at]deutsche-kinemathek[dot]de)

Viewings

Viewings are only possible by appointment. Please send us an email. Agreed viewing dates are binding. You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance. In the event of no-shows or delays of more than 30 minutes, we charge a flat fee of 50 euros.

  • Contact

    Head of Film Distribution
    filmverleih [at] deutsche-kinemathek.de (filmverleih[at]deutsche-kinemathek[dot]de)

    Distribution and license management
    filmarchiv [at] deutsche-kinemathek.de (filmarchiv[at]deutsche-kinemathek[dot]de)

    Film Distribution, DEFA
    defa-filmverleih [at] deutsche-kinemathek.de (defa-filmverleih[at]deutsche-kinemathek[dot]de)

    Disposition
    disposition [at] deutsche-kinemathek.de (disposition[at]deutsche-kinemathek[dot]de) 

    Licensing 
    lizenzen [at] deutsche-kinemathek.de (lizenzen[at]deutsche-kinemathek[dot]de) 

     

Films available for distribution: from G.W. Pabst to Helke Misselwitz, and from Elfi Mikesch to Peter Nestler

The Deutsche Kinemathek film distribution offers a diverse range of films from all decades and genres. These include silent film classics as well as auteur and avant-garde movies, socio-critical documentaries, and mainstream cinema. Our film distribution division has a wide range of experimental films as well as works by students from the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB). Particular attention is paid to films by historically underrepresented filmmakers, including films by women, for example, and transcultural cinema. Our holdings are complemented by a diverse selection of Berlin-themed films.

Our film distribution section also includes the entire collection of the DEFA Studios. These comprise feature and documentary films shot between 1946 and 1992 in the GDR, numerous editions of the weekly cinema show ‘Der Augenzeuge’ (The Eyewitness), and classic films from the former socialist countries.

Perspectives of Ukrainian Cinema

The Deutsche Kinemathek offers information and materials on the series for subsequent runs. In three languages.

More information

Weimar Cinema Revisited

Throughout its history, the Deutsche Kinemathek has put emphasis on independent cinema and, in the past few years, has reconstructed, digitized, and restored a substantial selection of respective films from the Weimar period – films directed by a range of names from Robert Siodmak to G.W. Pabst, films that are noteworthy for their art, technological innovations and politics, and films that explore issues of gender, class, urban life and more. On its 60th anniversary in 2023, the Deutsche Kinemathek presents these state-of-the-art restorations for distribution worldwide.

More information