36th Berlin International Film Festival

The 36th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held 14–25 February 1986. The festival opened with Ginger and Fred by Federico Fellini, which played out of competition at the festival.

The Golden Bear was awarded to West German film Stammheim directed by Reinhard Hauff. The retrospective was in honour of German actress and film producer Henny Porten and the homage was dedicated to American film director Fred Zinnemann. Claude Lanzmann's 9 hour long documentary film  Shoah about The Holocaust was screened at the Young Filmmakers Forum (renamed the International Forum of New Cinema in 1987).

Main Competition
The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:
 * Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress - Jury President
 * Rudi Fehr, British editor
 * Lindsay Anderson, British filmmaker
 * August Coppola, American academic
 * Werner Grassmann, West-German producer and filmmaker
 * Otar Iosseliani, Soviet filmmaker
 * Norbert Kückelmann, West-German filmmaker
 * Françoise Maupin, French journalist and film critic
 * Rosaura Revueltas, Mexican actress
 * Naoki Togawa, Polish writer and co-founder of Polska Szkoła Filmowa
 * Jerzy Toeplitz, Japanese film critic

In Competition
The following films were in competition for the Golden Bear:

Out of competition

 * Ginger and Fred, directed by Federico Fellini (Italy, France, West Germany)
 * Heilt Hitler!, directed by Herbert Achternbusch (West Germany)
 * Out of Africa, directed by Sydney Pollack (United States)
 * L'Unique, directed by Jérôme Diamant-Berger (France)
 * The Journey of Natty Gann, directed by Jeremy Kagan (United States)
 * To Live and Die in L.A., directed by William Friedkin (United States)
 * Karin's Face, directed by Ingmar Bergman (Sweden)

Retrospective
The following films were shown in the retrospective in honour of Henny Porten:

The following films were shown in the homage dedicated to Fred Zinnemann:

The film Le Brasier ardent by Ivan Mosjoukine and Alexandre Volkoff was also shown in the retrospective as a tribute to the Cinémathèque Française for its 50th anniversary.

Main Competition
The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:
 * Golden Bear: Stammheim by Reinhard Hauff
 * Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize: The Mass Is Ended by Nanni Moretti
 * Silver Bear for Best Director: Georgiy Shengelaya for The Journey of a Young Composer
 * Silver Bear for Best Actress:
 * Charlotte Valandrey for Red Kiss
 * Marcélia Cartaxo for Hour of the Star
 * Silver Bear for Best Actor: Tuncel Kurtiz for The Smile of the Lamb
 * Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievement: Caravaggio by Derek Jarman
 * Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contribution: Gonza the Spearman by Masahiro Shinoda
 * Honourable Mention: Pas în doi by Dan Pița

FIPRESCI Award

 * Stammheim by Reinhard Hauff