Berlinale - Journey Into Cinema

Reflection in a Dead Diamond is a loving and deeply satisfying riff on classic spy tropes with a true and abiding love of the genre.

Tricia Tuttle’s Perspectives is a shiny new programme dedicated entirely to first feature films. We have the lowdown on whether they’re any good.

Lucile Hadžihalilović’s The Ice Tower is a forbidding and slow riff on Hans Christian Andersen with a movie star performance from Marion Cotillard.

Mala Emde shines as a chaotic music promoter who puts on Keith Jarrett’s iconic concert at the Cologne Philarmonic in Ido Fluk’s Köln 75.

A 30-year-old woman’s jaunt to Paris yields all sorts of beautiful insights on the nuances of life in Valentine Cadic’s That Summer in Paris.

The second half of the Berlinale Shorts goes deep on the emotions, with stunning love story Close to September easily the standout movie.

In Retrospect explores the double-standards of Germany’s immigration policies: inviting people to come then demonising them for coming.

Lesbian desire and mother-daughter issues intermix on the beach in Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s debut feature Hot Milk. Playing in Competition.

Han Ye-ri provides an astonishing portrait of alcoholism in Kang Mi-ja’s deeply affect Spring Night, playing in Forum.

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.