Berlinale Classics 2025
Experience restored film classics and rediscoveries on the big screen – a festival highlight for film enthusiasts and nostalgia lovers.
© 2025 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved
Experience restored film classics and rediscoveries on the big screen – a festival highlight for film enthusiasts and nostalgia lovers.
As part of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, we present eight restored films in digital format – including seven world premieres and one international premiere. The journey spans from the 1930s to the 1980s. For the first time this year: restorations from the Estonian Film Institute (EFI) and the China Film Archive. The Classics section also features strong genre cinema – a nod to this year’s retrospective.
© 2025 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, Andrew Robinson, John Larch
A sniper is threatening San Francisco. Harry Callahan, a gunslinger with a badge, is out to take him down. The picture was restored from an 8K scan of the 35 mm camera negative, and a newly-mastered multi-channel audio track was created.
© Universal Pictures
Starring: Ben Lyon, Jean Harlow, James Hall, John Darrow, Lucien Prival
A drama of two brothers in World War I. One turns out to be a coward, the other a hero. Dizzying aerial sequences and the only known colour film scenes with Jean Harlow made this early blockbuster legendary.
© Estonian Film Institute
Starring: Monika Järv, Hendrik Toompere jr, Tauri Tallermaa, Katrin Tammleht, Kerttu Aaving
A realistic drama about a 16-year-old in an Estonian orphanage. Shot on location, it reveals a parallel world of young people behind the state regulations. The film was shot with the most modern synch sound cameras available at the time.
Courtesy of Park Circus/Disney
Starring: Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Charles Laughton, Charles Coburn, Ethel Barrymore
A lawyer falls in love with his client, who is accused of murdering her husband. His infatuation leads to a marital crisis. The restored version has a runtime of 114 minutes, as officially released by producer David O. Selznick.
© Kadokawa Corporation 1965
Starring: Ayako Wakao, Takahiro Tamura, Nobuo Chiba, Yûzô Hayakawa, Mikio Narita
Shunned by villagers as a “witch”, a young woman begins a passionate liaison with a feted soldier. When he is called up for war, she tries to intervene. The intense black-and-white melodrama has been restored in widescreen.
© China Film Archive
Starring: Ruan Lingyu, Li Jian, Zhang Zhizhi, Li Keng, Li Junpan
This “tragedy of the streets” from Shanghai is critical of society. A single mother turns to prostitution for her son’s sake. But she faces off against the mothers of her son’s classmates and her pimp. Restored version with newly remastered music.
© DEFA-Stiftung, Dieter Lück
Starring: Renate Krößner, Alexander Lang, Heide Kipp, Dieter Montag, Klaus Brasch
In his final film, Konrad Wolf (1925–1982) draws an unglamourous portrait of a self-assured, yet vulnerable outsider trekking her way through East Germany as a pop singer. Renate Krössner won the 1980 Silver Bear as the title character.
© Video Mercury Films
Starring: Loren Arana, Renée Amor, Nacha Sánchez, Eva Pérez, Tamara Muñoz
Documentary form about six trans women and their lives in 1980s Madrid. They speak frankly about their experiences as performers and prostitutes, facing marginalisation and the repressive laws that endured even after the end of the Franco era.