Film & Cinema in Cologne

Independent & arthouse films, cinema program with documentaries, open air cinema in summer in Cologne

Cologne and film: this is no coincidental relationship. The city has been one of Germany's most important media locations for decades, has one of the densest cinema cultures in the country and treats the cinematic experience with a respect that goes far beyond the usual blockbuster popcorn concept. Anyone looking for cinema in Cologne will find a program in the calendar of events that ranges from bold arthouse films to atmospheric open-air screenings, all year round. The Filmhaus Kino in Maybachstraße in the Nordstadt district provides an introduction to Cologne's cinema culture, a nationally recognized institution for film culture that regularly cooperates with festivals and independent curators alongside its current non-commercial cinema programme, creating a venue that feels like a conversation about film rather than a mere consumption of it. If you love curated program films, OFF Broadway in Südstadt, one of the city's oldest and most popular arthouse cinemas, has been surprising audiences for decades with a mixture of international productions, premieres and themed series. The Filmpalette in the Eigelstein district near Ebertplatz is similarly well positioned, with a program that regularly receives awards from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Filmstiftung NRW, which is already a good sign. And then there is the Filmforum NRW in the Museum Ludwig right next to the cathedral, which combines film art and an exhibition context, making it one of the most unusual cinema venues in the city. For cinephile evenings with atmosphere, the Cinenova in Cologne-Ehrenfeld is also an institution: family-run, with a bar, bistro and an attitude that understands arthouse cinema as a matter of the heart, not as a sideline. As soon as summer arrives, part of Cologne's film culture moves outside: from May to September, the Naturstrom open-air cinema in Rheinauhafen shows films on a floating screen in the harbor basin, which sounds so absurdly good that you simply have to experience it for yourself . The open-air cinema at the MAKK, the Museum of Applied Arts, is also one of the best summer cinema experiences in the city and opens its doors to movie fans in the open air every second Thursday in June. In short: Cologne is a movie city that deserves its reputation. Whether you want to go to an arthouse cinema, enjoy the balmy summer air at an open-air screening or work your way through a short film festival: check the calendar of events, find your screening and head out.