Clara lives in modern day Berlin where she is writing a PhD dissertation in philosophy. She’s originally from the former East Germany province of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern where her mother still lives. She’s 39 years old and has a teenage daughter who’s living with ex-husband and his wife. Her everyday struggles include her academic writing, discussions with her moody and strange supervisor, […]
Bertrand Bonello’s daughter has just turned 18. But the moment this young adult officially begins to “spread her wings” coincides with a global health crisis. Locked indoors, she experiences life in a state of limbo. In between reveries and video chats with her friends, she follows an influencer named Patricia Coma. A device she buys from her, called a “revelator”, […]
Rabiye Kurnaz is someone you might generally call an ordinary woman, except that she is a real treat. Taking care of her children and much more, she is the one running the show in her terraced house in Bremen. Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, her son Murat is accused of terrorism and is shipped off to Guantanamo […]
Joy, a traditional 1960s American housewife, unexpectedly becomes pregnant again. Her husband, a successful lawyer is happy and she is too. Some light dizziness doesn’t worry her at first, but finally she learns of her condition that is potentially life threatening if the pregnancy progresses. Her doctor leads he to the all-male hospital board. They learn that Joy has 50-50 […]
The 1960s in Indonesia were a period of dramatic political change and turmoil, with Suharto’s coup ousting Sukarno and leading to a violent anti-communist purge. Nana, a gentle, beautiful young woman, has been badly affected by the conflict. Her husband was kidnapped and taken into the forest. Although she managed to escape from the gang leader who wanted to force […]
Sara and Jean have been in a loving, stable relationship for ten years. They are happy. He is her rock, someone she can hold on to. When they first met, Sara was in a relationship with François, Jean’s best friend. One day, Sara sees François on the street. He does not see her, but she is overwhelmed by a sensation […]
Margaret, 35, has a history of violent behaviour which has cost her a romantic relationship. She has moved back in with her mother Christina, a fragile, immature 55-year-old woman who blames Margaret, her firstborn, for ruining her dreams of a career as a concert pianist. In a state of unbridled fury during an argument, Margaret hits Christina. The law steps […]
The 21st century and it’s catastrophes from the eyes of Rithy Panh. Opression, war, the destruction of democracy, masks and vaccination. In this new film that somehow founds its way to the Berlinale Competition, Panh mixes collages of historical events in split in 4 or 6 screen. We see the likes of Hitler, Stalin, and others in those lines, mixed […]
Nancy Stokes, a 55-year-old retired teacher, has never experienced an orgasm, or any satisfying sex at all. Her marriage was stable but stale and her late husband was the only man she had ever slept with. To make things right, Nancy takes the leap and hires the services of Leo Grande, a sex worker – or “sex therapist,” as he […]
Isabel and her family take possession of her mother’s villa in rural Mexico where they reconnect with their long-time domestic worker Mari. But things have never been the same since Isabel’s mother left. Once so well looked after, the house is now bare and neglected. Isabel and her husband are growing apart, and their children are increasingly worried about them. […]