The Berlinale's film programme is divided into six sections: Competition, Panorama, International Forum of New Cinema, Generation, Perspektive Deutsches Kino and Retrospective. Each section is headed by a section director, who is responsible for selecting the films and is advised by the Berlinale's correspondents and other experts.
Major international films are shown in the Competition. These are films made for the big screen and have what it takes to attract a broad audiences. In the Panorama the emphasis is on independent and art-house cinema, films which are made in a personal style and attract a demanding, passionate audience. Generation presents lively cinema aimed at young audiences. The section's two competitions, Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus, allow for fine-tuning in the programme according to the age range within the audience. The Perspektive Deutsches Kino looks at thematic and stylistic trends in German cinema and introduces international audiences to the latest developments in the German film industry. The International Forum of New Cinema is considered to be the Berlinale's most experimental section. It offers a sharper focus on experimental formats and "distant" film-producing countries. The Forum is a chance to discover highly original, often provocative and disturbing cinema.

For those looking for hidden treasures, the Retrospective should be just the thing. It is run and curated by the Filmmuseum Berlin - German Cinematheque. Thanks to this section, classics are (re-)discovered and films thought to be lost forever enjoy a renaissance. The Retrospective programme puts the festival's contemporary films into an historical context. The Homage also helps achieve this aim – it is usually devoted to a great film actor and presents his or her life's work.

The Berlinale Shorts present some 30 short films. Short films are also a regular constituent of the Perspektive Deutsches Kino and Generation programmes. Short film awards are bestowed in the Berlinale Shorts as well as the Generation Kplus and the Generation 14plus competitions.
Special programmes are regularly planned as a result of carefully targeted co-operations dealing with a particular theme. They broaden the Berlinale's programme by exploring new areas or by linking past and present.

There is a great mix of genres in the sections and the special screenings. Documentaries have now moved into areas which were once dominated by feature films. The majority of the films in the Competition are still fictional. However, the documentary film is becoming increasingly important in the Panorama and Forum section. The growing desire of filmmakers to play with genres and push the boundaries of the medium means that the Berlinale is in a constant state of creative transformation.