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Festival coverage

Berlin International Film Festival

2012

The Berlin Film Festival celebrates its 62nd edition this year. Running from February 9 to 19.

Films in the festival's Competition section vie for the Golden and Silver Bear Awards, where elsewhere there are sections dedicated to arthouse film, movies aimed at younger viewers, experimental work, the latest in home-grown talent and short film. The Festival is rounded out by a Retrospective - for classic "rediscovery" and a Homage which is dedicated to the work of Meryl Streep, who will also receive an Honorary Golden Bear.

Other years (15)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Zarafa
    Review preview for Zarafa

    The animated characters have a detailed, Disney-friendly feel, but there is little of the sentimentality that tends to fur the teeth of US animation.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A young boy, a prince and a balloonist escort a young giraffe halfway across the world, having adventures on the way.
  • Avalon
    Review preview for Avalon

    Aspiring to character-study status, the film evades at almost every turn the more compelling moments of its bare-bones plot. It’s a shame.

    Michael Pattison · 3 out of 5
    When a nightclub owner accidentally kills a labourer, he finds himself with a dangerous debt.
  • Chocó
    Review preview for Chocó

    Yet although the film is shot wide by an unmoving camera in full naturalist mode, we ultimately remain uncertain whether Chocó has taught Everlides a lesson, or just dreamt that she has.

    Anton Bitel · 3 out of 5
    The story of a woman struggling on the thin line between hope and despair in a small Columbian village.
  • For Ellen
    Review preview for For Ellen

    It took me a while to warm to this film...But as Yong Kim explores her characters a more nuanced, rewarding movie emerges.

    Jeff Robson · 3.5 out of 5
    A rock musician in the middle of an acrimonious divorce tries to gain access to his six-year-old daughter.
  • Kauwboy
    Review preview for Kauwboy

    There's a real sense of being there, not only in the same physical spaces but in the same emotional ones.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A boy with a difficult home life befriends an injured jackdaw.
  • Vito
    Review preview for Vito

    A celebration of Vito's life and of the work that long outlives him.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A documentary about acclaimed activist and cineaste Vito Russo.
  • Kuma
    Review preview for Kuma

    One of the best social dramas you are likely to see this year.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A young woman enters into a fake marriage in order to move from Turkey to Austria and become the second wife of an older man.
  • A Royal Affair
    Review preview for A Royal Affair

    The historical reality was as much about political as personal liberty, and the film reflects that.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Romance and politics become entangled in this historical drama about the Queen of Denmark falling for her husband's physician.
  • Step Up To The Plate
    Review preview for Step Up To The Plate

    The pace of the film, like the turning of the seasons, country life and the shift in control of the Bras empire, is slow, but no less enthralling for that.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    The story of Michelin starred chef Michel and his son Sébastien, as father prepares to hand over the running of the restaurant to his son after a 15-year apprenticeship.
  • War Witch
    Review preview for War Witch

    This is no chest-beating, flag-waving war movie, no propaganda for conflicts past, present or future, War Witch is the story of childhood destroyed, a country in flames and of how we survive the worst of what (in)humanity throws at us.

    Neil Mitchell · 5 out of 5
    A former child soldier recounts her past to her unborn child.

A–Z of Berlin International Film Festival 2012 reviews

Features

  • Bringing Barbara to life
    Christian Petzold talks about his movie influences, Romy Schneider's style and ratatouille.
  • Berlinale wrap-up
    From the old-fashioned class of Barbara to the intensity of Captive and dark comedy of Jayne Mansfield's car, we look back at the festival's 62nd edition.

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