Library

Reference works (blue signature labels) include general lexicons, subject encyclopedias, bibliographies, filmographies, yearbooks and address books. These are not available for loan.

The monograph collection (white signature labels) is arranged according to subject groups and is mostly available for loan. Books at the beginning of a subject group may serve as reference works (yellow signature labels) and are therefore not available for loan either.

The books are listed in the library catalog. You can search by names of persons, legal entities, keywords, subject headings, book and film titles, series and monographic series, publishers, signatures and ISBN numbers.

Up to ten items can be borrowed at any one time. The loan period is four weeks, and if titles are not reserved, loans can be extended up to three times.

We carry around 130 current German and international film periodicals, out of a total inventory of approximately 3,800 different titles. Periodicals are part of our reference holdings and can be viewed on-site. The complete periodical holdings are available in alphabetically sorted lists of titles with shelfmark information. Approximately 75% of our periodicals collection can be searched via our library catalog and the Periodicals Database (ZDB). 
→ To the library catalog
→ Periodicals database

Important German and some English-language film periodicals from before 1945 are available on microfilm. To use our two microfilm scanners, please make an appointment by email to: ausleihe [at] deutsche-kinemathek.de (ausleihe[at]deutsche-kinemathek[dot]de.)

To research periodical articles, the FIAF database (International Index of Film and Television Periodicals) is available on-site, among other resources. Listed are sources from 1972 onwards relating to internationally significant film periodicals, most of which we own.

Parts of our collection are housed in the open or closed stacks and are therefore not directly accessible in the reading room: they must be ordered before use.

The following periodicals (post-1945) are located in the reading room, and are directly accessible: 

• German and international, standard format
• German, oversized
• From the television industry: ‘Hör zu’, ‘TV-Fernsehwoche’, ‘TV Hören und Sehen’ and the East German ‘FF dabei’
   

The following periodicals are located in the open stacks:  

• German and international, pre-1945, oversized, stored flat
• German, pre-1945, standard format
• German and international, post-1945, oversized, stored flat
• The Berlin city magazine ‘Tip’ (the last eight issues can be found in the periodicals display in the reading room)
   

The following periodicals are located in the closed stacks:  

• International, pre-1945
• International, oversized, post-1945 (not stored flat)
• Collection of the Landesbildstelle (Berlin State Image Archive) pre-1945
• TV magazines and TV program guides
• Other Berlin city magazines (e.g. ‘Zitty’)
• Calendar
   

In addition, our library offers access to numerous electronic periodicals:

Electronic periodicals, licensed

Archivos de la Filmoteca / Filmoteca de la Generalitat Valenciana  (password protected)

L’Atlante : revista de estudios cinematograficos. 6.2008 - (password protected)

Bref - Film-Datenbank (password protected, with video restrictions outside France for legal reasons)

Epd Film. 22.2005 - (password protected)

Film Quarterly. 1.1945,1 -

Film-Dienst. 45.1992 - (password protected)

FKT. 2010 - (password protected)

Journal for Religion, Film and Media. 1.2015,1 - (password protected)

Journal of British Cinema and Television. 1.2004 - 

Journal of Popular Film and Television. 24.1996/97,4(Wi.) -

Jugend-Medien-Schutz-Report (JMS). 33.2010 -

Kinder- und Jugendfilmkorrespondenz – film reviews A-Z. 1980 - 2014

Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (M&K). 2000 -

Modern times review. 1.2017 - (password protected)

Monthly Film Bulletin. 1.1934,1(Feb.) - 58.1991,687(Apr.) (password protected)

Quarterly Review of Film and Video. 16.1997 -

Sight & Sound. 1932 - (password protected)

SPIO Produktionsspiegel. 2000 - (password protected)

SPIO quarterly report 2003,2 -

For the analog press archive, daily and weekly newspapers from Germany and abroad were scanned for media topics from 1968 to 2013. Our extensive collection of press clippings is organized systematically.

A search can be conducted using various criteria:

– Persons
– Film reviews (by original title)
– Television reviews (by broadcast date)
– Festivals, film and television awards
– Film and television analyses
– Countries (film and television history, broadcasting companies)
– Film and television institutions
– Film and television industry (media locations, producers)

Some press documentation is available in our reading room. This includes articles about people, film reviews, festivals, film academies and the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek. A large section is located in the closed stacks and must be requested eight working days in advance. This includes articles on people and film reviews from before 1968, which we have taken from other press archives and collections, as well as chronologically organized television reviews.

A large section of our holdings is located in the closed stacks and usage must be requested via email. This includes articles on people and film reviews from before 1968, which we have taken from other press archives and collections, as well as chronologically organized television reviews. The following subjects may also be used to conduct searches:

– Conferences, discussions, exhibitions, trade fairs 
– Prizes/awards
– Countries
– Film and television analyses by genre
– Society
– Finance and organization
– Film and television technology

For copyright reasons, sending copies is not possible.

Our collection of national and international film festivals includes materials covering approximately 1,200 festivals, with a focus on European, and especially German-language, festivals. Among other things, we hold the publication archive of the Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival). Besides catalogs, programs, posters and press reviews are also available. You can search our library catalog (Advanced Search) using a festival name, location or keywords and ‘Film festival material’ under media type.

Festival catalogs are located in our open stacks. These must be ordered before use.

The Berlinale archive in the library is supplemented by holdings in the Document Archive of the Deutsche Kinemathek, which contains materials on individual festival films.

Our extensive collection of cinema programs is organized by country, city and cinema name. The collection focuses on German cinemas nationwide from approximately 1970 to 2019. From 2020 to 2023, Berlin cinema programs were collected, as well as cinemas that applied for the Kinopreis of the Kinematheksverbund. Some cinema programs can be searched in the library catalog, with information on the scope of the collection.

Cinema programs are located in the closed stacks. These must be ordered before use. Please contact us if you are interested.

You can find some film programs and materials from before 1970 in the Document Archive.

An extensive collection of international cinematheque and film archive programs from around 1970 on is located in the Brussels office of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF).

The collection can be searched via the library catalog by film, title or person. DVDs and Blu-rays can be borrowed. They are located in the open stacks and must be ordered before use. 

Two seats are available in the library for film viewing; these can be reserved. To work at a viewing station, please register at the lending desk; you will receive the DVD or Blu-ray you ordered in advance. Guests without a library card must leave a deposit. Viewings are also possible at the Television Archive.

Please also note the films on offer in the Film Archive of the Deutsche Kinemathek. There you will find numerous films from the years 1895 to the present day on various media, which can be viewed in special booths after prior registration.

Zugriff in der Bibliothek an den OPAC-PCs, über WLAN und im Hausnetz der Deutschen Kinemathek:

FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals
Zeitschriften-Index zur Suche von Aufsätzen aus ca. 300 Filmzeitschriften von 1972 bis heute und aus Fernsehzeitschriften von 1979 bis 2000.

Online Contents – Thematische Ausschnitte 
Die Datenbank erschließt Inhaltsverzeichnisse von Fachzeitschriften ab dem Erscheinungsjahr 1993.

Online Content – Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften (erschließt ca. 506 Zeitschriften)
oder
Online Content – Film und Theater (erschließt ca. 193 Zeitschriften)

Über das von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) angebotene Förderprogramm Nationallizenzen:

World Biographical Information System (WBIS)
Biografische Kurzinformationen zu mehreren Millionen Personen aus aller Welt, teilweise durch Volltexte aus Nachschlagewerken ergänzt, organisiert durch die Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.

Periodicals Index Online für die Jahre 1770-1995
Historischer Zeitschriften-Index zur Suche in mehr als 4.600 Zeitschriften aus den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften von 1770 bis 1995, darunter auch Zeitschriften mit dem Schwerpunkt Film-, Fernseh- und Medienwissenschaft . Auf die rund 350 im Periodicals Archive Online enthaltenen Volltext-Zeitschriften wird direkt vom bibliografischen Eintrag verlinkt.

Periodicals Archive Online für die Jahre 1802-1995
Das Archiv PAO enthält rund 350 der im Periodicals Index Online ausgewerteten geistes- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Zeitschriften im Volltext.
Die Datenbanken PIO und PAO werden betreut von der Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main.

Datenbank-Infosystem (DBIS) – Fachgebiet Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften, Publizistik, Film- und Theaterwissenschaft
Eine Sammlung von im Internet frei zugänglicher Datenbanken zum Fachgebiet Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften, Publizistik, Film- und Theaterwissenschaft.

Zugriff in der Bibliothek an den OPAC-PCs. 
Bitte wenden Sie sich an das Bibliothekspersonal:

Archiv epd Film
Das Archiv des ›epd‹ enthält Volltexte der Zeitschriften ›epd Film‹ 1999 und ›epd Medien‹ ab 1996.

Film-Dienst – das Portal für Kino und Filmkultur
Die Filmdatenbank der Zeitschrift Film-Dienst.de liefert Rezensionen zu allen deutschen Kinostarts inkl. filmografischer Daten, Personen-Filmografien, ausgewählte Heimkino-Kritiken, Fernsehtipps sowie Hintergrundartikel, Interviews und Neuigkeiten rund ums Kino und die Filmkultur. Enthalten sind die Volltexte der Zeitschrift Film-Dienst (ab 1992) sowie die Datenbank »Lexikon des Internationalen Films«.

SPIO-TV-Datenbank
Die SPIO TV-Datenbank umfasst filmografische Daten zu mehr als 40.000 Kinospielfilmen und TV-Movies mit Sendeterminen in Free- und Pay-TV seit 1953 und Informationen zu Besuchszahlen, FSK-Daten und ggf. Verleihinformationen.

Datenbanken

FID Media – Fachinformationsdienst Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaft
Der FID Media ist das zentrale Nachweisportal für die Themen Kommunikation, Film, Fernsehen oder Medien allgemein und enthält Bücher, Fachzeitschriftenartikel, Video- und Audiomaterialien und Online-Ressourcen.

AFI Catalog of Feature Films
Filmografische Datenbank des American Film Institute zu allen Spielfilmen (Langfilmen), die zwischen 1893 und 1972 in den USA produziert oder von US-amerikanischen Produktionsfirmen finanziert wurden. Enthält filmografische Daten unter anderem zu Cast, Crew, Plot und Genre für alle Filme sowie bibliographische Zeitschriftenquellen.

Calindex
Bibliografische Zeitschriftenquellen zu ca. 50 französischen Filmzeitschriften der Erscheinungsjahre 1919 bis heute.

Virtuelle Allgemeinbibliothek – Filmwissenschaft

Virtuelle Allgemeinbibliothek – Rundfunk, Fernsehen, Film

Filmdatenbanken

The Internet Movie Database

AFI Catalog of Feature Films

AlleKinos.com – Filmtheatergeschichte Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz / verantw.: Klaus Weber

Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst e. V. – Datenbank

Bundesarchiv – Recherchedatenbank »Benutzungsmedien Film online«

Cinematography of the Holocaust

Encyclopédie du film historique / Hervé Dumont

European Film Gateway

Filmarchives online

Filmportal.de (deutschsprachige Filme)

The German Early Cinema Database (films available on the German market between 1895 and 1920)

The International Fairy-Tale Filmography / The University of Winnipeg

Internet Archive: Moving Image Archive

Kinowochenschauen ab 1945 / Bundesarchiv–Filmothek

Lexikon der Filmbegriffe / Universität Kiel, Institut für Neuere Deutsche Literatur und Medien

Lumière – Data base on admissions of films released in Europe (EU-Zuschauerstatistiken)

Moving Image Source / Museum of the Moving Image

National Film Preservation Board / Library of Congress

Quellen zur Filmgeschichte / Herbert Birett

Siegener Kino-Datenbanken

TV-Programme von Gestern und Vorgestern

Biografische Datenbanken

Moving Image Source - Categories in People / Museum of the Moving Image

World Biographical Information System (Zugriff nur in der Bibliothek, Privat-Registrierung über http://www.nationallizenzen.de/anmeldung/ind_inform_registration)

Kataloge/OPACs

Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog (KVK)

Verbund der öffentlichen Bibliotheken Berlins (VÖBB)

Digitale Sammlungen

Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek

Europeana

Gallica, Frankreich

Internet Archive – Digital Library

Zeitschriftendatenbanken

Zeitschriftendatenbank (ZDB)

Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek (EZB)

Library card: free, entitles the holder to borrow books/DVDs. Replacement card in case of loss: €5

To obtain a library card, you must have an officially registered residence in Germany. This can be proven with an identity card that has a valid address or with a passport together with a confirmation of registration (Meldebestätigung). Citizens from countries outside of the European Union and stateless persons also require a residence permit that is valid for at least three more months, or a valid enrolment certificate from a German university. A library card will then be issued for a limited period, if necessary. The library also accepts the dgti supplementary ID card as proof of the required personal data (name, date of birth). In combination with this, only the back of the identity card needs to be shown as proof of address.

Users with residence in Germany who have a valid library card can borrow up to ten books and DVDs/Blu-rays at once. The loan period is four weeks. 

Renewals can be made online by the user up to three times via the library catalog (or by email/telephone during opening hours), provided the media has not been reserved. If the loan period is exceeded, we charge all users overdue fees of €0.50 per opening day and item. Written reminders incur additional costs of €5 per reminder. 

Periodicals, so-called grey literature i.e. publications and printed materials not distributed through the book trade, and books marked ‘Reading room only’ or noted in the catalogue as ‘Not available for loan’ cannot be borrowed.

Some books and journals, as well as the press archive and all of our so-called grey literature (publications and printed materials not distributed through the book trade) are not located in the open stacks area and are not yet fully registered in the library catalog.

The stacks collection is available and must be ordered in advance via the catalog or by email:

Open stacks – order 24 hours before use:

• Books from subject group 7 Film/Television and Society
• Selected and older volumes of reference works and yearbooks
• Books from before 1945
• Festival catalogs
• German and international periodicals, pre-1945, oversized, stored flat
• German periodicals, pre-1945, standard format
• City magazines (‘Tip’)
• Grey literature on film institutions (only FIAF)

Closed stacks – order 8 working days before use:

• Books (second copies)
• Selected and older volumes of reference works and yearbooks
• Oversized monographs
• Oversized international magazines, post-1945
• Collection of the Landesbildstelle (Berlin State Image Archive) pre-1945
• TV magazines and cue sheets
• Company catalogs of rental and production companies
• Cinema and film archive programs
• Calendar
• Grey literature on film institutions
• Trade fair catalogs
• City magazines
• Parts of the press archive (including the ‘Altarchiv’ or old archive before 1968, television reviews and the press archive of the Weimar Special Collection)

Please contact us if you have questions – we will support you with your research and provide you with the materials you need.

A card copier with scanning function and a book scanner are available (€0.05 per black-and-white A4 copy; please bring change; scans using your own USB stick are free). Photographing content is allowed (without flash).

Media from before 1945 may not be copied or scanned, but may be photographed without a flash. Exceptions may be possible after consultation.

Original press articles from our press archive that have been pasted onto the page may only be copied with extreme care using a photocopier or book scanner.

Please lock jackets and bags in the lockers at the library entrance or on the ground floor near the information counter. A separate coat rack is on the second floor, to the left of the elevators. Transparent baskets are available at the loan desk for belongings that you need in the library.

Do you have a suggestion for improvement, praise or criticism for us? Talk to us, write us an email or use our suggestion box in the library.

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