Inga Abel (1946–2000), actress
Mario Adorf (born 1930), actor , writer
Hans Albers (1891–1960), actor
Mark Bellinghaus (born 1963), activist, actor, poet, writer
Moritz Bleibtreu (born 1971), actor
Eric Braeden (born Hans Gudegast, 1941), actor
Daniel Brühl (born 1978), actor
Horst Buchholz (1933–2003), actor
nood Bullock (born 1964), actor
Vicco von Bülow, aka Loriot, actor and comedian
Hans Clarin (1930–2005), actor
George Dzundza (born 1945), actor
Marlene Dietrich (1901–1992), actress
Heinz Erhardt (1909–1979), actor and comedian
Gert Fröbe (1913–1988), actor
Martina Gedeck (born 1961), actress
Götz George (born 1938), actor
Heinrich George (1893–1946), actor
Gustaf Gründgens (1899–1963), actor
Eva Habermann (born 1976), actress and model
Brigitte Helm (1908–1996), actress
Emil Jannings (1884–1950), actor
Klaus Kinski (1926–1991), actor, Polish-German father, German mother
Nastassja Kinski (born 1959), actress, daughter of Klaus Kinski
Heidi Klum (born 1973), model and actress
Hildegard Knef (1925–2002), actress, singer, writer
Diane Kruger (born 1976), model and actress
Alexandra Maria Lara (born 1978), actress
Heike Makatsch (born 1971), actress
Willy Millowitsch (1909–1999), actor
Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 1930), actor
Luise Neumann (1818–1905)
Uwe Ochsenknecht (born 1956), actor
Christian Oliver, actor
Franka Potente (born 1974), actress
Jürgen Prochnow (born 1941), actor
Heinz Rühmann (1902–1994), actor
Otto Sander (born 1941), actor
Romy Schneider, actress
Hanna Schygulla (born 1943), actress
Kristina Söderbaum (1912–2001), actress and photographer
Claudia Schiffer (born 1970), actress and supermodel
Til Schweiger (born 1963), actor
Xenia Seeberg (born 1972), actress and model
Barbara Sukowa (born 1950), actress
Nadja Uhl (born 1972), actress

German cinema dates back to the very early years of the medium with the work of Max Skladanowsky. It was particularly influential during the years of the Weimar Republic with German expressionists such as Robert Wiene and Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. Austrian-based director Fritz Lang, who became a German citizen in 1926 and whose career flourished in the pre-war German film industry, is said to have been a major influence on Hollywood cinema. His silent movie Metropolis (1927) is referred to as the birth of modern Science Fiction movies.

In 1930 Austrian-American Josef von Sternberg directed The Blue Angel, which was the first major German sound film and it brought world fame to actress Marlene Dietrich. Impressionist documentary Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, directed by Walter Ruttmann, is a prominent example of the city symphony genre. The Nazi era produced mostly propaganda films although the work of Leni Riefenstahl still introduced new aesthetics to film.

During the 1970s and 80s, New German Cinema directors such as Volker Schlöndorff, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder put West German cinema back on the international stage with their often provocative films. More recently, films such as Good Bye Lenin! (2003), Gegen die Wand (Head-on) (2004), Der Untergang (Downfall) (2004), and Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008) have enjoyed international success.

The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film went to the German production Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum) in 1979, to Nowhere in Africa in 2002, and to Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) in 2007. Among the most famous German actors are Marlene Dietrich, Klaus Kinski, Hanna Schygulla, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Jürgen Prochnow, and Thomas Kretschmann.

The Berlin Film Festival, held annually since 1951, is one of the world's foremost film festivals. An international jury places emphasis on representing films from all over the world and awards the winners with the Golden and Silver Bears. The annual European Film Awards ceremony is held every second year in the city of Berlin, where the European Film Academy (EFA) is located. The Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam are the oldest large-scale film studios in the world and a centre for international film production.