AwardsWatch - berlin film festival

‘Suzume’ review: Makoto Shinkai’s latest anime masterpiece is a jaw-dropping epic | Berlinale

Ben Rolph February 26, 2023

If you follow the career of Makato Shinkai, you know he is renowned world-wide for his anime films, Your Name and Weathering With You being... Read More

‘In Water (mul-an-e-seo)’ review: Hong Sang-soo blurs the lines of his own self-reference to middling effect | Berlinale

Savina Petkova February 24, 2023

What’s a year without a Hong Sang-soo film? Does a film festival even exist, if it does not feature a regular slot for the prolific... Read More

‘Roter Himmel (Afire)’ review: Paula Beer is on fire in Christian Petzold’s tragicomic climate crisis allegory | Berlinale

Ben Rolph February 23, 2023

Berlin Film Festival favourite Christian Petzold is back in competition with his latest film, Roter Himmel, titled Afire in English. Thomas Shubert stars alongside long-time... Read More

‘Past Lives’ review: Celine Song’s poignant debut is a nuanced little wonder | Berlinale

Savina Petkova February 23, 2023

Three devastatingly attractive people are sitting at a bar: who are they? Or more importantly, who are they to each other? This initial curiosity bordering... Read More

‘Disco Boy’ review: Franz Rogowski enchants in Giacomo Abbruzzese’s daring, dreamlike debut feature | Berlinale

Ben Rolph February 22, 2023

Disco Boy is both equal parts mysterious and beguiling, as director Giacomo Abbruzzese guides the audience on a harrowing, yet intimate and sometimes dream-like journey.... Read More

‘Femme’ review: George MacKay is frightening as a hyper-masculine thug in this daring London-set neo-noir | Berlinale

Ben Rolph February 20, 2023

Femme is a neo-noir-inspired queer revenge thriller that stars British actors Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George MacKay. Writer-directors Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping show... Read More

‘Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert’ review: Vicky Krieps disappears in Margarethe von Trotta’s elegant return to cinema | Berlinale

Ben Rolph February 19, 2023

Margarethe von Trotta’s latest film is a graceful triumph of modern European cinema. Vicky Krieps is the window into the heart of von Trotta’s film,... Read More

‘Manodrome’ review: Jesse Eisenberg is phenomenal in John Trengove’s fascinating take on toxic masculinity | Berlinale

Savina Petkova February 19, 2023

The Wound, the acclaimed debut by the South African director John Trengove, provides a good launchpad for his sophomore feature, with Xhosa initiation traditions swapped... Read More

‘Reality’ review: Sydney Sweeney is a tour de force in intense U.S. election whistleblower thriller | Berlinale

Savina Petkova February 19, 2023

Playwright Tina Satter makes her screen debut with Reality, a simmering investigative drama reconstructing the arrest of Reality Winner, an NSA contractor and ex-Air Force... Read More

Berlinale 2022 review: Charlotte Gainsbourg shines in ‘The Passengers of the Night’ from Mikhaël Hers [Grade B-]

Savina Petkova February 17, 2022

The Passengers of the Night opens with a title card announcing the date: May 10th, 1981. In recent French history, that day marks the election... Read More