Berlin International Film Festival — A–Z of films

The long wordless opening of 2001 remains one of the most beautiful sequences on film.

There's a mood of eerie melancholy as Milk lays out the reasons why he might become a target for someone who is "insecure, terrified, afraid" - a concept that has lost none of its resonance with campaigners in many fields of equal rights in the years that have passed since.

By allowing a slow-build to his drama, he ensures we get a feel for the extended family dynamic before wrong-footing the characters and his audience with the suddeness and deftness of a heartbeat.

The script left me with the distinct impression it had been written by someone who’d been drafted in for work experience and was taking revenge for having been forced to clean the toilets.

The characters in this film suffer torment and pain, much like the audience.

Although we are talking age old themes here – first love, dodgy geezers, questions of class – the material is spectacularly well handled.

'An effective and realistic examination of a world where intelligent and privileged characters have reached near-adulthood without having any real understanding of basic morality.'

A pleasant hymn to old-fashioned simple memories

While the pace may seem slow at times, the deliberate and considered consumption of all the little details that make up the couple’s life results in a more than satisfying pay-off towards the end.

Simple messages, simply but warmly told.

Further evidence of German filmmakers’ willingness to confront the darker episodes of their recent past – and spark a controversy in the process.

Exhilirating cinema, simply and purely stated with rich, detailed live action photography.

Though well executed, there isn’t a great deal to elevate the story beyond a solid genre piece.

The film uses an unusually wide aspect ratio: 2.76:1, which accentuates the stillness of the fleets approaching before the screen erupts in the chaos of battle.

Hurtles along to a satisfying climax, with well-sustained tension and audacious plot twists that will keep your jaw on the floor.

This carefully played comedy sees characters buzz around each other whilst a network of words and expectations, often subtly misunderstood, seems to bind them to mutually frustrating situations.

As Ayse, Elif Bülbül is one of the cutest children to grace the screen for years, whilst Mehmet Bülbül delivers a subtle, multi-layered performance as her brother.

This is a film likely to divide viewers.

Few actors have ever come to embody a historical figure in such a powerful way.

The script is, at times, very funny, though the use of a very droll narration is unnecessary.

An impressive documentary, which spotlights human trafficking without passing judgement on the participants.

Displays some of the finer stylistic points of modern German cinema.

Some will find the apparently random nature of its early scenes so irritating that they'll just give up. But there will almost certainly be others who will consider this to be one of the best films they have ever seen.

It’s a real shame that the director doesn’t show enough interest in his own story or characters to make them anything more than sketches and surfaces.

This fable for our times manages to be touching, comedic, and poignant.

A minor mumblecore treat.

It is the central love story - beautifully realised both in terms of camerawork and acting - that underpins all the rest of the directorial flourishes.

The subject is much too large and diverse to cram into 94 minutes, but Kenner spends his time wisely, ramming home bullet points with irrefutable evidence and impressive research.

A powerful and moving documentary, which appears to give a thorough and frank portrait of its subjects and the impact of poverty and malnutrition upon their lives.

Engagement with this film requires patience and hinges on the performance of Camandule.

Olyphant has a great seductive charm and impeccable comic timing.

A timely and well-executed thriller

The fusion of the crime thriller’s grim reality with the otherworldly fantasy of the ghostly confederate army is, for the most part, very effective.

The issue of sex is carefully handled and the trajectory the pair take has a fumbling, teenage quality that makes it easy to believe.

Intelligent, well-constructed visuals work effectively in tandem with what is being said by the musicians and save us from the stale talking-heads format.

There is no question that Petzold is his own film-maker.

A stylish femme-thriller with good twists and turns.

Strickland reveals an eye for landscape and place that for me recalled early Werner Herzog.

Riklis has made a wise choice in turning real life political drama into a simple human interest story.

Little Soldier makes us face some of the hardest questions we may never want to answer.

What remains true now, as it was then, is the scale and scope of the thing.

Emotional explorations are the life-blood of London River, but it is clogged up by the weight of sorrow running through it.

Lulu And Jimi certainly shares with Lynch a level of surrealism and an ability to switch mood dramatically from the candy floss highs of love to much darker territory.

The plot and characterisation feel subordinate to the social commentary.

Filmed with limited resources, Marin Blue is a great festival entry, with a lovely dreamlike feel.

There is no escaping the weightiness of the subject matter and Movermann treats it with the necessary respect, but he also shows evidence of a lighter touch, which helps to alleviate the pathos and prevents the film sliding into melodrama.

Although the layers of symbolism and allegory certainly add to the depth of the film's resonance, those who consider it purely as a more simply magic realist-inflected coming of age tale are unlikely to be disappointed either.

Exquisite attention to detail that creates not only a complex portrait of each of the main characters but also a vivid sense of place.

In one of the finest performances of his career, Sean Penn is understated to convey finer feeling, yet passionate on the soap box to an inspirational degree.

There are some good ideas here, and bursts of insight into strategies that really do seem to be working.

In the central role, Elit Iscan demonstrate a confidence that belies her years.

What it lacks in complexity or emotional intensity, it makes up for in entertainment.

Jamal 'Gravy' Woolard put a tremendous effort into preparing for his role and it really pays off.

This is a story of personal sadness, part of a tragic whole.

This is a charming first feature-length offering from writer/director Fillières.

Predictably, as the ending arrives we learn absolutely nothing or witness anything different that we didn't see coming halfway through.

There are moments of brilliance but also points where Tati simply lays on everything too thick.

Wry, funny and emotionally-charged.

Thought-provoking rather than yielding insight.

Although Ozon never quite makes his mind up about the tone of the piece, the weird juxtaposition of the normal and abnormal is mostly effective.

An extremely black comedy with a painfully alienating central premise.

A stark political satire, exposing all the divisions and frictions – social, sexual, racial, cultural and religious – of a modern multi-cultural France.

There is a concrete sense of just how true and harrowing this testimony is.

The film has an inner beauty that defies Maria's lifestyle and is enhanced by exceptional acting.

Captivatingly creative but over-fussy in terms of story, this is still an entertaining and accomplished debut.

Boy meets nun, boy loses nun, boy marries nun, boy and nun go on the run.

It plunges you right into a Midwest midwinter, where wind and snow scour a starkly beautiful landscape and a built-in woolly jumper is a prerequisite for survival.

The interviewees are great value, telling rambling anecdotes, and laughing and weeping as they recall the friend they so admired.

Strives for profundity but instead grates irritatingly.

The message is clear and the message is strong: How To Build A Fascist Movement works.

It still does things that surprise.

Seamlessly balances the scenes that made the band infamous, with the intimate moments and the atmosphere of an era.

Screenwriters Eddy Moretti and Shane Smith play rather too fast and loose with the facts at times.

There's no denying that they make some good points, well substantiated with damning words straight from the horse's mouth.