The Breadth of Cinema

The films in this year’s Competition showcase the breadth of cinema and offer fascinating glimpses into different lives, ways of seeing the world and crafting cinema. There are intimate dramas that ask audiences to understand human fragilities and strengths; gentle comedies that are introspective, soul-searching and humanist, and also the sharpest, blackest satires; films that pay homage to cinematic greats and films that use the art form’s fullest canvas. Each of these singular works shows filmmakers from around the world at the top of their craft.

Argentina’s Iván Fund uses black and white cinematography and intimately framed shots to draw audiences into the delicate drama of El mensaje (The Message). The scope and scale of Sheng xi zhi di (Living the Land) from China’s Huo Meng is visually and narratively epic.

Beautiful character portraits are found in France’s Ari from Léonor Serraille, Richard Linklater’s US-set Blue Moon, Hong Sangsoo’s South Korean Geu jayeoni nege mworago hani (What Does that Nature Say to You) and in Ameer Fakher Eldin’s Yunan, from Germany.

Movie-making, visual magic and fantasy imbue the French film La Tour de Glace (The Ice Tower) from director Lucile Hadžihalilović, as well as Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s Belgian Reflect dans un diamant mort (Reflection in a Dead Diamond), with homage and mystery. Vivian Qu’s Chinese film Xiang fei de nv hai (Girls on Wire) is also partially set in the world of making movies with the added elements of crime, sisterhood and even a nod to the Wuxia tradition.

The unexpected and at times surreal events of Brazil’s O último azul (The Blue Trail) from Gabriel Mascaro, and American Mary Bronstein’s If I had Legs I’d Kick You are in no way similar but are equally brilliant and engaging. The boundaries of the unnatural are also traversed in unexpected ways in Austria’s Mother’s Baby from Johanna Moder and Was Marielle weiß (What Marielle Knows) from Germany’s Frédéric Hambalek.

What it means to love is explored in Michel Franco’s Dreams from Mexico, Dag Johan Haugerud’s Drømmer (Dreams [Sex, Love]) from Norway and in Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk from the United Kingdom. Viewed from another angle, the Swiss film La cache (The Safe House) from Lionel Baier, Radu Jude’s Romanian Kontinental ‘25 and Kateryna Gornostai’s Ukrainian documentary Strichka chasu (Timestamp), translate this question into an exploration of the complexity of the affections that one can hold for one’s home, one’s city and one’s country, respectively.

From these deserving ranks, we look forward to discovering what Todd Haynes and his International Jury picks as the winners of Berlinale Golden and Silver Bears.

The 2025 Competition programme