UFA Film Nights

UFA Film Nights

Silent film classics with live musical accompaniment are the recipe for success behind the UFA Film Nights, to which Bertelsmann and UFA regularly treat audiences in Berlin. The format has since gone on to other metropolises as well, including Brussels, Paris, Madrid and New York. In 2020, the UFA Film Nights took place digitally for the first time; starting in 2021, they can be enjoyed both on Berlin's Museum Island and online as live streams.

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Press Release | Berlin, 08/24/2022

UFA Film Nights 2022 Transport Audiences to the Mountains of South Tyrol

Press Release | Berlin, 06/30/2022

Destiny and Chastity at the UFA Film Nights – Live on Berlin’s Museum Island

Press Release | Berlin, 08/26/2021

UFA Film Nights Delight Live, Open-Air Audience on Berlin’s Museum Island

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Impressions from the UFA Film Nights 2022

Around 300 guests attended an exclusive reception hosted on the rooftop terrace of Bertelsmann Unter den Linden 1 in Berlin just before the start of the UFA Film Nights 2022. After sundown, everyone walked together to nearby Museum Island to watch the digitally restored opening film “Mountain of Destiny” (1924) by Arnold Fanck, accompanied by live music performed by the Metropolis Orchester Berlin. Roughly a thousand silent film buffs enjoyed the first mountain film in the history of cinema in an open-air setting in the Kolonnadenhof (Colonnade Courtyard).

The films of the UFA Film Nights 2022

From August 24 to 26, 2022, Bertelsmann and UFA will again present masterpieces of Weimar cinema on three evenings in open-air screenings, set against a spectacular backdrop and accompanied by live music. This year’s features: “Der Berg des Schicksals” (Mountain of Destiny) from 1924 starring Luis Trenker, Fritz Lang’s monumental “Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler I” (Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler I, 1921/22) and the turbulent 1926 silent classic “Die keusche Susanne” (Chaste Susanne) starring Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch and Ruth Weyher. The images shown here can be requested for editorial purposes from the contact (see contact details on the right) or by writing to press@bertelsmann.com. (© each as indicated in the title)

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“Mountain of Destiny “: The Making of a Restoration

When the Murnau Foundation started its restoration work of the film "Mountain of Destiny" in 2018, the film reels were nearly 100 years old and the material was damaged in many places. The greatest challenge, however, was that the version of the film shown at its premiere in 1924 could not be found. The detective work began, as the experts meticulously tried to identify which scenes dated to which period. Now the Murnau Foundation is pleased to present a restored version that comes as close as possible to the 1924 original. Almost identical to the version experienced by audiences at its premiere.

Culture at Bertelsmann

As a creative content company with a history stretching back nearly 190 years, Bertelsmann is engaged in cultural efforts at various levels. Its “Culture@Bertelsmann” activities are focused on preserving important cultural assets and making them accessible to a broad public, e.g. through digitization or exhibitions and concerts. For many years, Bertelsmann has organized the popular UFA Film Nights, a silent film festival in Berlin, and has repeatedly acted as the main sponsor for the digital restoration of important silent films. The Group also owns the Archivio Storico Ricordi in Milan, which houses a wealth of unique testimonies to 200 years of Italian opera history. Bertelsmann is indexing the archive holdings according to the latest standards and makes thousands of documents, set and costume designs, libretti, and items of business correspondence publicly accessible online. With the Blaues Sofa (Blue Sofa) literature format, Bertelsmann and its partners ZDF, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, and 3sat have provided authors with a prominent stage for their latest works for over 20 years.