The festival has celebrated incredible interest shown by the public, who is flocking to the cinemas to see the best of international cinema and cheer on the stars on the Red Carpet. Many directors and actors from all over the world have presented their work during the first half of the festival, including Tilda Swinton, Edward Berger, Tom Tykwer, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger, Tala Al-Deen, Timothée Chalamet, Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, Vicky Krieps, Ira Sachs, Ben Whishaw, Rebecca Hall, Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Trine Dyrholm, Ido Fluk, Mala Emde, Burhan Qurbani, Bong Joon Ho, Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, Jacob Elordi, Justin Kurzel, Lucile Hadžihalilović, Marion Cotillard, August Diehl, Michel Gondry, Nina Hoss, Michel Franco, Jessica Chastain, Rupert Friend, Vivian Qu, Wen Qi, Liu Haocun, Chloë Sevigny, Sam Riley, Julia Jentsch, Leonie Benesch and many many others.

“For the 75th Berlinale, it has been a great joy to see public and professional audiences embrace so many films which show off the diversity of this art form. The first half of the festival has seen glamorous Red Carpet appearances, of course, but also full cinemas. We have over 1000 screenings in the festival, and in these we get to know so many different perspectives on the films as well as on the world. Cinema can offer such varied pleasures - play, wonder and dreaming, but also reflection, remembrance and resistance. And this year’s festival has offered such a vital and welcome opportunity for discovery and connection. We’re very much looking forward to the final few days of this anniversary edition,” says Festival Director Tricia Tuttle.

The public's extraordinary interest is also reflected in the increased demand for tickets: As of yesterday morning (February 19), 285,000 tickets have already been sold, which is almost 14,000 more than this time last year. Screening attendance by trade visitors and the press is also very high – sometimes at 100 percent and 90 percent on average.

The attendance at the European Film Market has been bustling, with participant numbers on a par with last year. The market saw high activity and positive feedback from participants, with German, US, and European attendees dominating, while the number of first-time participants from India and Eastern Europe increased.

The Award Ceremony will take place on February 22 at the Berlinale Palast, where the Berlinale Shorts awards, the Berlinale Documentary Film Award, the GWFF Best First Feature Award in the new section Perspectives, and the Golden and Silver Bears in the Competition will be awarded.

On the Berlinale Publikumstag, Sunday, February 23, 2025, there will be an encore: Numerous festival films from various sections will be repeated at the Berlinale venues. Tickets for the Berlinale Publikumstag have been available since February 10.