At Berlinale 2026, three films in the main competition selected black-and-white cinematography: Yellow Letters (dir. Ilker Catak, DP Judith Kaufmann), Rose (dir. Markus Schleinzer, DP Gerald Kerkletz), and Everybody Digs Bill Evans (dir. Cynthia Lichtenstein, DP David McGrail ISC). Each made the choice for distinctly different reasons. Yet the convergence of three significant films on the same format in the same year at the same major festival suggests something beyond coincidence. It suggests a moment when black-and-white cinematography is being rediscovered as precise rather than as nostalgic.
Kaufmann used B&W to photograph addiction and loss, inverting the conventional grammar by making the present B&W and reserving color for flash-forwards. The black-and-white is not historical. It is psychological. The absence of color information mirrors the absence of vitality in the character's present experience. Kerkletz used B&W for 17th-century period austerity in Rose, eliminating color as a variable so that the light itself—the prototype LED candlelight—could communicate historical authenticity. McGrail used B&W to construct 1961 New York and Florida, photographed in Ireland, creating a visual register that feels consistently historical regardless of the actual location of production.
Three films. Three arguments. One format. The arguments are not about B&W as stylization or as romantic nostalgia. They are about B&W as a precise tool that each cinematographer needed for specific reasons.
This convergence is distinct from previous moments of B&W adoption in contemporary cinema. In the 1990s and 2000s, B&W was often used as avant-garde statement or as aesthetic radicalism. It was a choice that signaled artistic ambition through rejection of conventional color cinematography. In 2026, B&W is being used more pragmatically. It is being used when the cinematographic problem requires it, not when the artistic position demands it.
The shift from B&W as statement to B&W as tool is significant. It means cinematographers are evaluating B&W alongside color as viable format options without automatically assuming B&W carries artistic baggage. Kaufmann did not choose B&W to make a radical artistic position. She chose it because the visual language of the story required the absence of color information. Kerkletz did not choose B&W to invoke avant-garde cinema. She chose it because the 17th-century setting and the candlelight-only source required a visual register where color was not a distraction.
For cinematographers considering B&W cinematography, the Berlinale 2026 convergence suggests that the format is recovering respectability in professional cinematography after decades of marginalization. Contemporary cinema has treated B&W as either nostalgic or radical, with little space between. The three Berlinale films demonstrate a third position: B&W as exact. As the right tool for the right story.
The technical considerations for shooting B&W in 2026 are distinct from previous eras. Digital B&W is not film B&W. The absence of color information is captured and can be reintroduced in post-production with color grading. This is both a flexibility and a potential pitfall. A cinematographer must commit to B&W knowing that the final look is not locked at capture. The B&W cinematography must be composed and exposed as if it were final, trusting that the director and colorist will honor that commitment.
The Berlinale moment—three competition-level films in B&W, none using it as radical statement, all using it as precise cinematographic choice—may mark a shift in how contemporary cinematography values format. B&W is not returning as fashion or as nostalgia. It is returning as option. Cinematographers are recognizing that certain stories and certain visual languages require the absence of color information. When they do, B&W is the tool. The three films at Berlinale 2026 are the proof.
Gear Recommendations
- Kodak Vision3 500T 5219 35mm | Adorama – B&H Photo
- Kodak Vision3 50D 5203 16mm | Adorama – B&H Photo
- Kodak Vision3 200T 5213 | Adorama – B&H Photo
- Tiffen Black Pro-Mist 1/4 Filter | Adorama – B&H Photo
Note: Links above are affiliate links. Occupy Cinematography may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.