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  • What’s happening this November? Berlin’s best events

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What’s happening this November? Berlin’s best events

November is packed with incredible events this year, from X100 to xmas markets to Lil Nas X - we round up the best of a massive month in Berlin.

X100 will see a one-off festival come to the Kraftwerk. Photo: Berlin Atonal 2018 Day 1 @Frankie Casillo

Theater der Dinge

Satisfy your inner child at this one-week festival. Performances and exhibitions bring you the latest in puppet and object theatre, crossing over into visual arts, dance, music and digital art.

Berlin Science Week

Photo: IMAGO / Jürgen Ritter

Cutting-edge science meets art, health, business and environment over a jam-packed 10-day festival – and it isn’t just for nerds! Expect VR conversations with Chomsky, AI-generated DJ sets, genome art, multi-sensorial plant workshops in a derelict nail salon and immersive neuroscience at the planetarium. The Naturkundemuseum plays host to a two-day extravaganza of workshops, film screenings, panels and talks with artists, scientists and climate activists, including maverick musician Beatie Wolfe.

Judith Förster: Horizon Problems

The Berlin choreographer, dancer and costume designer takes inspiration from Ursula Le Guin’s 1974 sci-fi novel The Dispossessed to deliver her own queer-feminist piece, performed by Australian and Brazilian dancers Rachell Bo Clark and Natasha Vergilió.

  • Sophiensaele, (Sophienstraße 18)
  • Nov 2-5
  • €15 / €10 reduced

Litauisches Kino Goes Berlin

The annual showcase of Lithuanian cinema returns to Sputnik. Expect great new features from the festival circuit, documentaries and animated short films. The festival opens at Sputnik with Laurynas Bareiša’s award-winning Pilgrims (2021).

Bazaar Berlin

Bazaar Berlin 2018. Photo: IMAGO / Xinhua

This is the 60th year that the Bazaar Berlin sales exhibition has been in operation. Now that’s staying power! 280 exhibitors from 55 countries are expected. It will be a cultural exchange of arts and crafts, clothing and jewellery. In addition, you’ll get food and beverages, natural cosmetics, Fair Trade fashion shows and, of course, Christmas decorations on site.

  • Bazaar Berlin, (Entrance Hall 19, Messedamm 22)
  • Nov 2-6
  • €8 / €7 reduced

Hannah Höch Prize 2022: Ruth Wolf-Rehfeld

An evening with Ruth Wolf Rehfeldt. Photo: IMAGO / Rolf Zöllner

At the age of 90, Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt is having a moment. Not only did she win the prestigious Hannah Höch Prize 2022 with a publication and show at the Kupferstichkabinett, but she will soon have a show at the newly-opened Das Minsk in Potsdam. The GDR artist was an office manager for most of her life, often working secretly to produce her unique form of subversive mail art and poetry on typewriters.

Out of Chaos

Gravity and other myths acrobats perform a human tower in front of Edinburgh’s Murrayfield stadium. Photo: IMAGO / agefotostock

Don’t miss this unique showcase of high art-meets-acrobatics performed by Australian contemporary circus company Gravity and Other Myths. This is their first time back in Berlin since the pandemic put a stop to their 2020 tour.

  • Chamäleon, (Rosenthaler Str. 40/41)
  • Nov 2-Dec 31
  • €37-59

Women Make Film

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to watch Mark Cousins’ 14-hour Women Make Film: a Road Movie Through Cinema. The documentary comprises footage from 183 women across 13 decades and five continents, celebrating the overlooked historiography of female movie directors. Parts three and four are screening at Arsenal this month.

Jazzfest

Anthony Braxton, Jazzfest Berlin 19. Photo: IMAGO / Votos-Roland Owsnitzki

The 2022 edition of Berlin’s longest-running jazz festival opens with new piano works from Alexander Hawkins, who perfectly embodies the border-crossing mentality and creative freedom that guides Jazzfest year after year.

ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival

ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival 2008. Photo: IMAGO / gezett

What makes a film poetic and what is a ‘poetry film’? Find out at the world’s largest poetry film festival, opening with live readings and a performance by Ukrainian musician Mavka.

Parataxe Symposium: Literatürk

The capital of Almanya has long been a hub for Turkish-language literature. The symposium turns the spotlight onto the city’s talented Turkish-writing authors.

Pitchfork Music Festival

The Comet is Coming at the 2021 End of the Road Festival. Photo: Richard Gray/EMPICS

It’s easy to be sceptical of overbranded festivals. But when the programme is right, the allure is irresistible. With top-class acts including The Comet Is Coming, Crack Cloud, Luna Li and Nia Archives, the pressure is on to cook up a storm.

Macy Gray & The California Jet Club

Macy Gray in October 2022 with The California Jet Club. Photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Press

It’s no secret that Macy Gray is a once-in-a-generation voice, and even by that measure, what a voice it is. Her brand of R&B and soul music is ageless, and she has hits to burn all the way through any set. So when Macy Gray comes to town, the only reason not to go is a medical emergency. Yes, we’re selling this one hard, but you can surely brighten even the drabbest, darkest November evening with a lung-busting concert, raw with emotion and power.

  • Metropol, (Nollendorfplatz 5)
  • Nov 4
  • €40

Museum Sunday

Altes Museuem. Photo: IMAGO / Jürgen Ritter

You know the drill! Grab a Zeitfensterticket and head out into Berlin’s vast cultural landscape: admission to all state-owned museums and galleries is completely free today.

Afrikamera

Berlin’s ever-engrossing annual showcase of contemporary African film is brimming with fresh ideas and directorial reinvention. The festival opens with Adolf El Assal’s tragicomedy Sawah (2020).

Lie Ning

Lie Ning at Admiralspalast in October. Photo: IMAGO / Sabine Gudath

A rising star in Berlin, Lie Ning creates layered, spacious and cohesive works that waver between indie and R’n’B and are always a thing of beauty.

  • Hole 44, (Hermannstraße 146)
  • Nov 8
  • €29

Soundwatch Music Film Festival

Berlin’s music film festival is back with cutting-edge documentaries, retrospectives and special events. The festival opens on an operatic political note with Wem gehört Lauratibor? at the Jugendwiderstandsmuseum.

  • Lichtblick Kino, (Kastanienallee 77)
  • Nov 8-21. OV and/or English subtitles.

Lil Nas X

Lil Nas X performing. Photo: IMAGO / MediaPunch

At 23 years old, “Billboard’s No. 2 Greatest Popstar of 2021” has more accolades and statuettes than you can count.

Italian Film Festival

Celebrating the renaissance of Italian cinema with around 10 films, the festival opens with the German premiere of Ennio, Giuseppe Tornatore’s tribute to the iconic late composer Ennio Morricone, in cooperation with Soundwatch.

Cosmic Awakening

The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of the World’s Cultures) in 2020. Photo: IMAGO / Panthermedia

Time and space travel, cyborgs and escapism – how does sci-fi translate into music? This is what the three-day festival at HKW explores in both practice and theory with a colourful mix of concerts, installations, screenings, talks and even “a few surprises”.

Ellen Gallagher exhibition

Gallagher’s solo show includes paintings, works on paper and immersive film installations developed together with the artist Edgar Cleijne. Their piece ‘Osedax’ (2010), inspired by the phenomenon of whale fall, is the centrepiece.

  • Gropius Bau, (Niederkirchnerstraße 7)
  • Nov 11-Apr 16
  • €15 / €10 reduced

Space Afrika

Photo: IMAGO / UIG

Joshua Reid and Josh Inyang are Space Afrika. Among the most innovative and interesting acts across any genre, their second album Honest Labour was Exberliner’s record of the year for 2021. Now performing at Cosmic Awakening at HKW, their music is raw, expansive, emotive and, above all, real.

Diwali Festival

The festival of lights took place in October, but that doesn’t stop Sage from putting on another joyous riverside weekend full of Indian food stalls, stand-up comedy, karaoke, a Bollywood dance daytime party and a big afterparty from 10pm.

  • Sage Beach, (Köpenicker Str. 18-20)
  • Nov 12-13
  • €2

“Aus den Fugen” Festival

The Concert House and Schiller Fountain. Photo: IMAGO / Dirk Sattler

For two weeks the Berlin Konzerthaus will have concerts, workshops and talks with guests like Fazıl Say, Cuarteto Casals, Jonathan Stockhammer and singer-songwriter Fatoumata Diawara. Admission is pay-what-you-wish with the Experience Ticket.

Interfilm

Berlin’s largest and oldest short film festival opens with a surprise medley of six to eight favourites from the international, German, documentary and green film competitions.

Christmas Garden

Christmas Garden Berlin light show in 2021. Photo: IMAGO / Xinhua

Once again, the botanical garden turns into an enchanted world after nightfall, with hundreds of light installations piercing through the dark, accompanied by melodious soundscapes.

The Reading: Calla Henkel

The second instalment in The Reader’s new series features Calla Henkel, an American visual artist who co-runs the über-trendy TV Bar. Henkel is also the author of Other People’s Clothes, a novel in which two American art students decamp to 2009-era Berlin and find themselves renting the apartment of a famous eccentric crime writer. And then things get weird! No spoilers.

X100

Photo: Berlin Atonal 2018 Day 1 @Frankie Casillo

X100 celebrates 100 years since the birth of the avant-garde composer and light and sound spectacle pioneer Iannis Xenakis. Curated by the team behind Berlin Atonal, this one-off event sees performances by Pan Daijing, Lee Gamble, LABOUR and Kali Malone. After parties at OHM.

  • Kraftwerk, (Köpenickerstr. 70)
  • Nov 18-20
  • €27

Synästhesie Festival

Rachel Goswell, from band Slowdive in 2022. Photo: IMAGO / Gonzales Photo

This edition maintains every bit of the ethos and energy that makes the festival so very special. Slowdive, Tess Parks and No Joy top a gorgeously shoegazey bill, propped up by local acts like Warm Graves and Gloria de Oliveira.

As You Fucking Like It

Shakespeare’s most gender-bending play gets another layer of playful treatment in this new production. Come and see what director Bastian Kraft can introduce to the already muddled waters.

  • Deutsches Theater, (Schumannstraße 13 A)
  • Nov 18-Dec 31. German with English surtitles
  • €12 / €9 reduced

Christmas at Tierpark

Christmas in Tierpark. Photo: IMAGO / Bernd Friedel

Families can walk at their own pace through Europe’s largest zoo while exploring a fairytale landscape. Including views of Friedrichsfelde castle along the way.

  • Tierpark, (Elfriede-Tygör-Straße 6)
  • Nov 18-Jan 15, 2023
  • €19.50

Rundfunk- Sinfonieorchester X Bode Museum

A sculpture by Tilman Riemenschneider. The figures in this relief represent three of the fourteen Helper Saints. Photo: IMAGO / piemags

Want to know what a Riemenschneider sculpture could sound like? In an exciting collaboration, the Bode museum plays host to the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester, which will perform musical pieces to form juxtapositions with the museum’s artworks.

  • Bode Museum, (Am Kupfergraben)
  • Nov 19-30

Blood Moon Blues

A scene from Slippery Slope by Yael Ronen. Photo: IMAGO / Martin Müller

A woman in her 40s tries to find love and meaning in this new comedy from writer-director Yael Ronen. Specially commissioned by Gorki, Ronen is fresh off the success of Operation Mindfuck and Slippery Slope, the latter of which featured at the Theatertreffen this year.

  • Maxim Gorki, (Am Festungsgraben 2)
  • Nov 20, 27. In German with English surtitles.
  • €10-38

Ok Tannhäuser

Fusing classical and modern, this project pairs composers with TikTokers to create a new multimedia version of Wagner’s Tannhäuser opera. Crowd-composed with live multimedia elements during the performance, this is a contemporary and experimental take on the age-old concepts of morality and judgement, for one night only.

Xmas season!

Photo: IMAGO / Future Image

There’s Gendarmenmarkt for posh winter magic, Spandau’s old town for tradition and Kulturbrauerei’s Lucia market for Nordic lovers… Brighten up your dark Berlin winter days with some Glühwein and open-air Christmas fun!

The Climate Monologues (Die Klima-Monologe)

Director Michael Ruf takes on the issue of climate change and migration in the premiere of this two-hour documentary theatre piece, followed by an audience discussion.

Surrealism and magic

Self-Portrait, ca 1937-38, by Leonora Carrington Mexican, born in England, 1917, Oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art Modern Art, New York City. Photo: IMAGO / agefotostock

Started in the heady interwar years by the French writer André Breton, the work of the Surrealists teemed with occult symbolism and teased the notion that the artist had the power of a magician. This is the first large-scale international loan exhibition to focus on the Surrealists’ interest in magic and features Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst and Leonora Carrington – the British surrealist whose dream-like works were such a prominent part of this year’s Venice Biennale.

  • Musuem Barberini, (Humboldtstraße 5–6, Potsdam)
  • Now through Jan 29
  • €10-16

French Film Week

Showcasing the best and newest of Francophone cinema, the festival opens at Kino International with Emmanuel Mouret’s latest tragicomedy Chronique d’une liaison passagère, nominated for the Cannes Queer Palm award 2022.

  • Cinema Paris, Arsenal, City Kino, (Potsdamer Str. 2)
  • Nov 24-30. OV with German or English surtitles

Disruption Lab Madness: Fighting for Justice in Mental Health

The mental health care system, its shortcomings, bias and inequality: in talks, discussions, performances, screenings and workshops, scientists, activists, artists and people affected by mental illness offer their perspectives to foster an open discourse.

Monica Bonvicini

The Neue Nationalgalerie Photo: IMAGO / Jürgen Ritter

The Berlin-based artist is respected for her provocative works on social structures and gender biases. This exhibition also targets Neue Nationalgalerie itself by revealing the male chauvinism built into its architecture.

Fidelio

Beethoven’s only opera, which took him 10 years to write, Fidelio is considered by many to be one of the greatest ‘freedom’ operas and concerns one of the greatest female protagonists ever written. Leonora, played by the excellent Ingela Brimberg. She dresses as a man in order to break into a prison to rescue her falsely imprisoned husband Florestan (Robert Watson). Not to be missed.

  • Deutsche Oper, (Bismarckstraße 35)
  • Nov 25, 30; Dec 3, 18. In German with English and German surtitles.
  • €24-180

QWEER Winter Market

This indoor arts and crafts market offers everything from kinky sex toys and graphic tees to sassy prints at more than 40 stalls from LGBTQIA+ artists and businesses. There’s an exhibition as well as food and drinks.

The Flying Dutchman

Komische Oper in 2010. Photo: IMAGO / Schöning

Possibly the last chance to see Wagner in the current Komische Oper building before it closes for renovation. Based on what they’ve shown so far this season, with the ambitious set design of Intolleranza 1960, the Komische are not currently doing things by halves. Expect a ship, a journey out to sea, ghosts and some camp jump scares.

  • Komische Oper, (Behrenstraße 55-57)
  • Nov 27, dates through December
  • €12-94

Paradise Lost

Celebrating a 25-year relationship between Neuköllner Oper and the Universität der Künste, this musical theatre draws similarities between the Old Testament and the creation of a new musical. The topic of #MeToo surfaces in the second half of this campy romp.

  • Neuköllner Oper, (Karl-Marx-Straße 131 – 133)
  • Nov 28-Jan 7. In German
  • €22

EXB & Dussmann English present

US critic and author Lauren Oyler – whose debut novel Fake Accounts is a hilarious satire on US literary culture and expat Berlin – discusses her work-in-progress with the EXB Books editor.

EXBlicks: Un año, una noche

Lichtblick Kino. Photo: IMAGO / POP-EYE

Isaki Lacuesta’s drama One Year, One Night explores a year in the life of a couple dealing with the aftermath of the 2015 attack on Paris’ Bataclan. Stay on for a glass of wine and a chat with the EXB team.

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