About IL KINO

Back in 2012, the three founders of IL KINO, Carla Molino, Daniel Wuschansky and Kristian S. Pålshaugen, stumbled across a pop-up screening of the European Cup in football in an abandoned bakery in our home area of Neukölln, Berlin.

Neither of us normally being particularly interested in football, the space itself certainly caught our eye – as we sat on a beer bench watching a game projected on the crumbling raw wall of what used to be the bakery oven, Carla quickly saw the potential for a little cinema, modelled after a community-run film club in Rome, which she had been part of.

With little clue what we were getting ourselves into, we decided on the spot to create something we had always missed ourselves: A small, but professionally equipped cinema, showing hand-picked films from all over the world, in an atmosphere where you would want to hang out before, after or without even watching a film – in contrast to the usual cinema experience of being shuffled out the rear exit to the next door parking lot as soon as a film ended.

After two years of toil, we were ready to open November 1 2014, as the first new, independent cinema in Berlin for 29 years (or at least so we've been told).

Since then we've screened more than 1000 films to more than XXX thousand visitors. We've been invited to be part of the Berlinale, hosted countless festivals, premieres and more events than we can count. We've been visited by filmmakers and other artists we greatly admire, as well as given a space for local filmmakers to show their works – often for the first time (we admire them too).

Over the last 8 years, IL KINO has become a favourite place for many film lovers in Berlin, and together with other initiatives we've gotten to know across Europe and the world, we see ourselves as part of a new generation of cinemas that are thinking new about what cinema can be.

After 2 years of pandemic, we are finally back to do what we love – being a house for great films, and for likeminded film lovers.

In IL KINO we aim to bring the best of new international cinema and festival films to our local neighbourhood cinema, giving it not only the quality of sound and picture the movies deserve, but also the kind of atmosphere that the audience deserves.

As our audience is as international as our films, we also always aim to have options for films with English subtitles, as well as German.

In our cosy cafe/bar, we offer home made Italian food and snacks, great coffee, delicious wine and more – to enjoy there, or bring with you to the cinema.

Whether you're a seasoned cinema lover that can speak about Tarkovsky, Fellini or Godard for hours, or someone who simply likes to watch something more than the normal blockbusters, we're sure you'll find something for you [in our program]. Don't be shy to ask us for tips, or tell us how you found a film.