Kino International Berlin has announced that it will hold behind-the-scenes tours while the iconic building is closed to the general public for a renovation project.
Keen historians, architecture enthusiasts and cinephiles have a new date for their diaries. On May 10, cinema chain Yorck Kinos will run a behind-the-scenes tour of Germany’s most iconic cinema, Kino International in Berlin.
Yorck Kinos has yet to announce what time the tour will begin or whether multiple tours will be held during the day. However, interested parties must register in advance and are advised to wear sturdy footwear during the tour.
Kino International was opened in 1963 and sits a stone’s throw from the Fernsehturm on one of the most recognisable boulevards of the former GDR, Karl-Marx-Allee. The modernist building was East Germany’s premier cinema and is known for premiering Coming Out, the first East German film to positively depict queer relationships.
Coming Out’s premiere was held on the evening of November 9, 1989, as the Berlin Wall fell outside. Today, Kino International is one of the main locations to host the Berlinale Film Festival.
“We are [holding the tour] because we are happy that there is such an interest in the building and that so many people feel connected with the cinema,” a spokesperson from Yorck Kinos told rbb.
The cinema has been temporarily closed since May 2024 and is undergoing extensive renovations, during which the entire ventilation system will be redone.
Electrical systems and parts of the cinema's sound system will also be updated during the renovations. If all goes to plan, Kino International will reopen its doors in mid-2026.
Thumb image credit: Yorck Kinogruppe / (C) Daniel Horn / CC-BY-4