Screen critics’ stand-out titles from the Berlin Film Festival

All I Had Was Nothingness (Special)
Dir. Guillame Ribot
Screen’s critic said:  “A film that frames Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah, but is also a continuation of it.”
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Blue Moon (Competition - best supporting performance for Andrew Scott)
Dir. Richard Linklater
Screen’s critic said: “ A romantic, funny, moving, life-affirming chamber piece that is itself a great example of a three-way creative collaboration – between director Linklater, writer Robert Kaplow and actor Ethan Hawke.” 
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The Blue Trail (Competition – grand jury prize)
Dir. Gabriel Mascaro
Screen’s critic said: “A balmy riverboat ride into the unknown – as well as a bolshy protest against ageism and a warning about possible authoritarian futures, in Brazil and elsewhere.”
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Christy (Generation 14plus)
Dir. Brendan Canty
Screen’s critic said:  “A nicely-judged, empathetic, modest calling card from the young Irish director and his fresh-faced cast.”
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Dreams (Sex Love) (Competition – Golden Bear for best film)
Dir. Dag Johan Haugerud
Screen’s critic said: “ Elegantly styled, sensitively acted and crafted with keen intelligence, Dreams  is likely to appeal to upmarket niche audiences.”
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The Good Sister (Panorama)
Dir. Sarah Miro Fischer
Screen’s critic said: “This accomplished feature debut from Sarah Miro Fischer takes an intimate look at conflicted allegiances.”
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Growing Down (Perspectives) 
Dir. Balint Daniel Sos
Screen’s critic said:  “This impressive, tautly-plotted feature debut makes effective use of its lean running time; deftly building tension and showcasing terrific performances.”
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Hysteria (Panorama) 
Dir. Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
Screen’s critic said: “The flashes of humour and the brisk pacing makes for a viewing experience that is as thought provoking as it is entertaining.”
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Koln 75 (Special Gala) 
Dir. Ido Fluk
Screen’s critic said:  “A vivid vehicle for a dynamic, often very funny Mala Emde.”
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If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (Competition - best leading performance for Rose Byrne)
Dir. Mary Bronstein
Screen’s critic said: “ Motherhood becomes a psychological battleground in writer-director Mary Bronstein’s gripping second feature, which casts Rose Byrne as a working parent unable to slow her downward spiral.”
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Islands (Special Gala) 
Dir. Jan-Ole Gerster
Screen’s critic said: “It’s a modest, modern mystery worthy of a PD James bookcover.”
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Kontinental ’25 (competition – best screenplay)
Dir. Radu Jude
Screen’s critic said: “ Featuring a terrific central performance by Eszter Tompa, both comic and affecting, the film will more than satisfy Jude fans but also bring reassurance to anyone who was worrying that European art cinema had lost its combative spirit.”
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Late Shift (Special Gala) 
Dir. Petra Volpe
Screen’s critics said: “A finely-strung hospital drama from Switzerland starring the phenomenal German actor Leonie Benesch.”
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Little Trouble Girls (Perspectives)
Dir. Urska Djukic
Screen’s critic said: “ Djukic’s coming of age drama is heady with intertwined sensual and religious symbolism; the first rate score and sound design teases out the tangled, conflicting impulses towards Catholic devotion and erotic abandon.”
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Living The Land (Competition – best director)
Dir. Huo Meng
Screen’s critic said: “ This intimate epic provides an immersive portrait of early 1990s rural China from the perspective of a young boy who is just becoming aware of the challenges facing his community.”
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The Message (Competition - jury prize)
Dir. Iván Fund
Screen’s critic said: “ Leisurely in rhythm, and gorgeously but simply shot in black and white, The Message  offers a gently off-kilter depiction of childhood and its relation to the non-human universe.”
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Mother’s Baby (Competition)
Dir. Johanna Moder
Screen’s critic said: “ Very much rooted in real-world issues that many viewers will surely recognise, the film feels meticulously calibrated in its emotional complexity and centres on a riveting performance from Marie Leuenberger, affecting and deeply upsetting in turns.”
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Shadowbox (Perspectives)
Dir. Tanushree Das, Saumyananda Sahi
Screen’s critic said: “The feature directing debut takes a sensitive, low-key approach to the theme of mental illness, told from the point of a carer who has, the film suggests, already endured more than her fair share of familial dramas.”
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Timestamp (Competition)
Dir. Kateryna Gornostai
Screen’s critic said: “ There’s considerable cumulative power to these intimate glimpses of kids, from primary school tiddlers to high school graduates, all facing an uncertain future in Ukraine.”
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We Believe You (Perspectives)
Dir. Charlotte Devillers, Arnaud Dufeys
Screen’s critic said: “ Captures all the stomach churning tensions of a life-changing court hearing. Tightly focused, densely scripted and impeccably acted, it is as nail biting as any splashier thriller. “
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• ‘The Blue Trail’ tops Berlin jury grid; solid scores for Sangsoo latest, ‘Timestamp’ doc