The second half of the Berlinale Shorts goes deep on the emotions, with stunning love story Close to September easily the standout movie.
Berlinale Shorts 2025 Part Two: Humanity And the Lack Thereof
Berlinale
The mostest film festival in the world. An unconquerable mountain of movies, every February.
in retrospect Expertly Captures German Xenophobia
in retrospect explores the double-standards of Germany’s immigration policies: inviting people to come then demonising them for coming.
Hot Milk Loses It At The Beach
Lesbian desire and mother-daughter issues intermix on the beach in Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s debut feature Hot Milk. Playing in Competition.
Spring Night. A Sobering Experience.
Han Ye-ri provides an astonishing portrait of alcoholism in Kang Mi-ja’s deeply affecting Spring Night, playing in Forum.
Night Stage Creates a New Landscape for the Gay Erotic Thriller
Night Stage by Marcio Reolon, Filipe Matzembacher is a fun De Palma homage from Brazil that reinvents the queer erotic thriller.
Rosenkrantz and the Real Slow Burn
Listening to Peter Hujar’s Day by Ira Sachs makes you wish you’d trade places with Ivan Denisovich. Live from the Panorama at Berlinale.
Sirens Call. Mermaids and All.
Sirens Call, Miri Ian Gossing and Lina Sieckmann’s impassioned look at modern-day merfolk, reinvents ancient myths for an increasinly fascist age.
The Good Sister. A Great Movie.
The moral difficulty of realising your loved one might be a monster is explored in great detail in Sara Miro Fischer’s The Good Sister.re
Home Sweet Home. Giving Care.
The burdens of working as a full-time caregiver are depicted in microscopic detail in Frelle Perersen’s assured Home Sweet Home.
Living The Land. Weddings and Funerals.
The rhythms of village life are perceptively captured in Huo Meng’s intimate epic Living the Land, which is handsomely made but holds the audience at a remove.