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Berlin International Film Festival · 2024

Berlin International Film Festival 2024

Competition

Programme

20 films · 12 reviews

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Another End

A man tries a new technology in a bid to cope with grief.

(Country: Italy, France, United Kingdom; Year: 2024; Director: Piero Messina; Writer: Piero Messina; Stars: Philip Rosch, Renate Reinsve, Gael García Bernal, Bérénice Bejo, Tim Daish, Michael Maggi, Amina Ben Ismaïl, Kathleen Hagen, Dami Olukoya)

Architecton

Review preview for Architecton

As much as Architecton rues humanity’s depletion of our resources, it also marvels at our ability to harness materials for our own ends.

Sunil Chauhan · 3.5 out of 5
A documentary meditation on architecture and how the design and construction of buildings from the ancient past reveals our destruction - and offers hope for survival.

(Country: Germany, France; Year: 2024; Director: Victor Kossakovsky; Writer: Victor Kossakovsky)

Full review

Black Tea

A woman leaves the Ivory Coast and embarks on a new life in China.

(Country: France, Taiwan, Luxembourg, Mauritania; Year: 2024; Director: Abderrahmane Sissako; Writer: Abderrahmane Sissako, Kessen Tall; Stars: Ke-Xi Wu, Nina Melo, Han Chang, Michael Chang)

La Cocina

It’s the lunch rush at The Grill in Manhattan, and money has gone missing from the till. All the undocumented cooks are being investigated, and Pedro is the prime suspect...

(Country: Mexico, US; Year: 2024; Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios; Writer: Alonso Ruizpalacios, Arnold Wesker; Stars: Rooney Mara, Oded Fehr, John Pyper-Ferguson, Laura Gómez, James Waterston, Spenser Granese, Finnerty Steeves, Raúl Briones, Kerry Ardra, Leo James Davis, Lee R Sellars, Motell Gyn Foster, Pía Laborde-Noguez, Anna Díaz, Eduardo Olmos)

Dahomey

Review preview for Dahomey

Vigorously covering all bases, Diop cuts elegantly to give each position ample space.

Sunil Chauhan · 3.5 out of 5
Documentary about the return of artworks to Benin that were looted by French colonisers.

(Country: France, Senegal, Benin; Year: 2024; Director: Mati Diop)

Full review

The Devil's Bath (The Devil's Bath)

Review preview for The Devil's Bath

Martin Gschlacht’s glorious and smart cinematography adds clarity here while sprinkling doubt over there.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
A woman struggles with her life, leading her to take desperate measures in 18th Century Austria.

(Country: Austria, Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz; Writer: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz; Stars: Anja Plaschg, Maria Hofstätter, David Scheid, Tim Valerian Alberti, Elias Schützenhofer)

Full review See: Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala on The Devil's Bath, Maria Hofstätter, and the Brothers Grimm

A Different Man

Review preview for A Different Man

Slippery in terms of genre and form, the writer/director’s satire puts all his characters and, by extension, us under close scrutiny.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Aspiring actor Edward undergoes a radical medical trial to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Aaron Schimberg; Writer: Aaron Schimberg; Stars: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Owen Kline, Adam Pearson, Marc Geller, Lawrence Arancio, Billy Griffith, Eleanore Pienta, John Keating, Juney Smith, Sergio Delavicci, Miles G. Jackson, Martin Ewens, Neal Davidson, Trenton Hudson)

Full review

Dying (Sterben)

Review preview for Dying

Dying is full of glorious contradictions, many of which occur within the same conversation

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Ensemble drama about members of an estranged family.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Matthias Glasner; Writer: Matthias Glasner; Stars: Lars Eidinger, Saskia Rosendahl, Ronald Zehrfeld, Corinna Harfouch, Anna Bederke, Lilith Stangenberg, Kailas Mahadevan, Tom Böttcher, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Robert Gwisdek, Jens Weisser, Karmela Shako, Sidney Fahlisch, Christopher Köberlein, Alina Hidic)

Full review

The Empire (L'Empire)

Review preview for The Empire

If you've ever wondered what a Star Wars pastiche by Monty Python might look like if barely any of the jokes landed then the latest film from Bruno Dumont is for you.

Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
The forces of good and evil battle it out in a village in France.

(Country: France, Germany, Italy, Belgium; Year: 2024; Director: Bruno Dumont; Writer: Bruno Dumont; Stars: Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri, Anamaria Vartolomei, Fabrice Luchini, Bernard Pruvost, Bilal Gharbi, Brandon Vlieghe, Philippe Jore, Julien Manier)

Full review See: Bruno Dumont on The Empire, Fabrice Luchini, and fairy tales

Foreign Language (Langue Étrangère)

A teenager leaves her home for the first time to spend a month in Leipzig.

(Country: France, Belgium, Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Claire Burger; Stars: Chiara Mastroianni, Nina Hoss, Jalal Altawil, Lilith Grasmug, Josefa Heinsius)

From Hilde, With Love

Review preview for From Hilde, With Love

This non-sensationalist approach allows much more room to address the psychological effects of prison life itself, whilst emphasising the mundanity of much of what happened under the Nazis.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
In Berlin 1942, Hilde finds her place within an anti-Nazi resistance group as gradually as she falls in love with one of its members. The two spend an unforgettable summer until they get caught by the Gestapo and Hilde is imprisoned, eight months pregnant.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Andreas Dresen; Writer: Laila Stieler; Stars: Liv Lisa Fries, Johannes Hegemann, Sina Martens)

Full review See: Interview with Andreas Dresen about From Hilde, With Love

Gloria!

Set in a girls' boarding school in Venice at the end of the 18th century, the film tells the story of a woman who creates an extraordinary piece of music.

(Country: Italy, Switzerland; Year: 2024; Director: Margherita Vicario; Writer: Anita Rivaroli, Margherita Vicario; Stars: Galatéa Bellugi, Carlotta Gamba, Veronica Lucchesi, Maria Vittoria Dallasta, Sara Mafodda, Paolo Rossi, Elio, Natalino Balasso, Anita Kravos, Vincenzo Crea, Jasmin Mattei, Gioele Pagura)

My Favourite Cake (Keyke mahboobe man)

Review preview for My Favourite Cake

While many other films feel as though they are really staking out a deliberate political stance against the Iranian regime or coming at it from deep within metaphor, My Favourite Cake is casually, but almost constantly, rebellious in small ways.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A 70-year-old decides to break her solitary routine and revitalise her love life.

(Country: Iran, France, Sweden, Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Maryam Moghadam, Behtash Sanaeeha; Writer: Maryam Moghadam, Behtash Sanaeeha; Stars: Lili Farhadpour, Esmaeel Mehrabi)

Full review

Pepe

A voice that claims to be from a hippopotamus. A voice that doesn’t understand the perception of time. Pepe, the first and last hippo killed in the Americas, tells his story with the overwhelming orality of these towns.

(Country: Dominican Republic, Namibia, Germany, France; Year: 2024; Director: Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias; Stars: Jhon Narváez, Sor María Ríos, Fareed Matjila, Harmony Ahalwa, Jorge Puntillón García)

See: Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias on experimentation and storytelling in Pepe

Shambhala

A woman tries to find her husband after he disappears.

(Country: Nepal, France, Norway, Hong Kong, Turkey, Taiwan, United States, Qatar; Year: 2024; Director: Min Bahadur Bham; Writer: Min Bahadur Bham, Abinash Bikram Shah; Stars: Thinley Lhamo, Sonam Topden, Tenzing Dalha, Karma Wangyal Gurung, Karma Shakya, Loten Namling, Tsering Choden, Choney Gurung, Phurba Tsepten Gurung, Tsering Lhamo Gurung, Tsering Choeble Towa, Janga Bahadur Lama)

Small Things Like These

Review preview for Small Things Like These

I do not know that I could ever with a good conscience describe a film as 'perfect' but this comes close.

Andrew Robertson · 5 out of 5
A coal merchant discovers secrets being kept at a convent.

(Country: US, Ireland, Belgium; Year: 2024; Director: Tim Mielants; Writer: Enda Walsh, based on the book by Claire Keegan; Stars: Cillian Murphy, Ciarán Hinds, Clare Dunne, Emily Watson, Michelle Fairley, Joanne Crawford, Amy De Bhrún, Abby Fitz, Eileen Walsh, Ian O'Reilly, Tom Leavey, Liadan Dunlea, Cillian O'Gairbhi, Ella Cannon, Sarah Morris)

Full review

Sons (Vogter)

Review preview for Sons

The intensity between her and the angry young man drives the action in Sons, capturing a relentless cycle of aggression reverberating throughout the sullen halls.

Sergiu Inizian · 3 out of 5
A prison officer faces a dilemma after a young man from her past is transferred to the jail where she works.

(Country: Denmark, Seden; Year: 2024; Director: Gustav Möller; Writer: Gustav Möller; Stars: Dar Salim, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Jacob Lohmann, Sebastian Bull, Marina Bouras, Olaf Johannessen, Siir Tilif, Bashar Al-Saoudi, Thomas Voss, Frantz Dupuis, Rami Zayat)

Full review

Suspended Time (Hors du temps)

Two couples spend lockdown together during the Covid pandemic.

(Country: France; Year: 2024; Director: Olivier Assayas; Stars: Nine d'Urso, Nora Hamzawi, Micha Lescot, Vincent Macaigne)

A Traveler's Needs (Yeohaengjaui pilyo)

Review preview for A Traveler's Needs

Huppert's lines feel stiff from the get-go, predicting a vague narrative limited by a purposefully strange dialogue.

Sergiu Inizian · 2 out of 5
Iris, a wandering woman teaching French to Koreans, navigates her life with few concerns.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2024; Director: Hong Sang-soo; Writer: Hong Sang-soo; Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Kwon Hae-hyo, Hye-young Lee, Ha Seong-guk, Yunhee Cho)

Full review

Who Do I Belong To (Mé el Aïn)

Review preview for Who Do I Belong To

Starting as a refined drama about a broken Tunisian family, the narrative becomes a complex meditation on attachment and motherhood, all encompassed by a remarkable female lead.

Sergiu Inizian · 3.5 out of 5
Aïcha longs for the return of her oldest sons, Mehdi and Amine, who abandoned the household in search of war. Upon Mehdi's return, a looming darkness surfaces.

(Country: Tunisia, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, France, Canada; Year: 2024; Director: Meryam Joobeur; Writer: Meryam Joobeur; Stars: Salha Nasraoui, Mohamed Grayaâ, Malek Mechergui, Adam Bessa, Dea Liane, Rayene Mechergui, Mariem Jlassi Akkari, Neji Kanaweti, Hélène Catzaras, Noomen Hamda, Chakib Romdhani, Bahri Rahali, Imene Ghazouani)

Full review