Berlin Film Festival | Little White Lies

Berlin Film Festival

Two individuals, a man and a woman, standing together on a city street near a "College" sign. The man is wearing a black t-shirt, and the woman is wearing a light-coloured blouse. The buildings and cityscape in the background suggest an urban setting.
Festivals

Matt and Mara – first-look review

by Hannah Strong

A teacher stuck in a rut finds her routine disrupted when an old friend from college reappears.
Three hikers silhouetted on a rocky outcrop overlooking a valley with mountains in the distance.
Festivals

Sasquatch Sunset – first-look review

by David Jenkins

This delightful anthropological comedy from the Zellner brothers documents an eventful year in the life of four ambling Sasqatch.
Two women in a garden, one wearing a sun hat and the other contemplating something while the other gestures.
Festivals

A Traveller’s Needs – first-look review

by David Jenkins

Isabelle Huppert proves she’s one of the great comic performers in this delightfully meandering character piece from Hong Sang-soo.
Lush green woodland with tall trees, couple sitting on grass
Festivals

Hors de Temps – first-look review

by David Jenkins

Olivier Assayas offers a wistful, meandering and amusingly philosophical exploration of life during the Covid-19 lockdown.
A man with dreadlocks comforting a woman with short dark hair in a dimly lit setting.
Festivals

A Family – first-look review

by David Jenkins

Author and regular Claire Denis collaborator Christine Angot creates a harrowing portrait of a family collectively suppressing its traumas.
A man wearing a safari hat and shirt, holding a shovel.
Festivals

Dahomey – first-look review

by David Jenkins

Mati Diop offers a creative and moving guide to discussing anti-colonialist action in her very fine follow-up to 2019’s Atlantics.
Imposing sci-fi architecture with angular, layered structures in shades of grey; a person wearing a red and black jacket stands in the foreground.
Festivals

L’Empire – first-look review

by David Jenkins

A lunatic piece of sci-fi social realism in which Bruno Dumont brings flying churches and sexed-up aliens to France’s Opal Coast.
A ginger cat rests on a paved surface under a cherry blossom tree with a traditional Japanese-style building in the background.
Festivals

The Cats of Gokogu Shrine – first-look review

by Hannah Strong

In the Japanese costal town Ushimado, a colony of stray cats eke out a fraught existence alongside the human residents, documented by filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda.
Two individuals seated in a car at night, with a warm lighting illuminating their faces.
Festivals

Love Lies Bleeding – first-look review

by Hannah Strong

A drifting bodybuilder and a reclusive gym employee fall hard for each other with devastating consequences in Rose Glass’s explosive thriller.
A young woman with green hair wearing a black top, sitting on a window ledge and looking thoughtful.
Festivals

The Outrun – first-look review

by Hannah Strong

Saoirse Ronan stars as a young woman battling alcoholism on the Orkney Isles in Nora Fingscheidt’s adaptation of Amy Liptrott’s bestselling memoir.
Smiling woman in dark clothing applauding in a crowded room, with people in the background.
Festivals

Crossing – first-look review

by Hannah Strong

A retired Georgian teacher sets out to reunite with her estranged niece in Istanbul in Levan Akin’s compassionate third feature.
Two individuals in intimate profile, close face-to-face, in black and white.
Festivals

La Cocina – first-look review

by Hannah Strong

Alonso Ruizpalacios’s bilingual drama takes place during the chaotic lunch rush of a Times Square restaurant, where tensions flare between front of house and kitchen staff.