The Berlin International Film Festival, affectionately known as the Berlinale, represents one of the most prestigious and influential film festivals worldwide. Founded in 1951, in a historical context marked by the Cold War and a divided Berlin, the festival was born as a “showcase of the free world,” with the intention of serving as a cultural and artistic bridge in a city symbolizing the geopolitical tensions of the era. Its first edition was held on June 6, 1951, at the Titania-Palast cinema, inaugurated by the screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca.
Since its origins, the Berlinale has distinguished itself by its strong political and social connotation, becoming a platform for debate and reflection through cinema. Officially recognized as a competitive festival by the FIAPF (Fédération Internationale des Associations de Producteurs de Films) in 1956, its prestige has grown steadily, alongside historical festivals like Cannes and Venice. The beating heart of the competition is the Golden Bear (Goldener Bär), the most coveted award, presented annually to the best feature film by an international jury. This is flanked by the Silver Bears, which recognize excellence in various categories such as directing, acting, and screenplay.
Over the decades, the Berlinale has evolved, adapting to historical and cultural changes. The 1970s saw an accentuation of its role as a forum for political discussion, an aspect that culminated in the controversial interruption of the 1970 edition due to Michael Verhoeven’s film O.k., critical of American war crimes in Vietnam, an event that led to the creation of the Forum section, dedicated to experimental and political cinema. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked a further transformation, making the festival even more inclusive. Since 2000, the Berlinale has found its main venue in the Berlinale Palast, at Potsdamer Platz, becoming an event more accessible to the general public compared to other more elite festivals.
Today, the Berlinale annually attracts around 500,000 visitors and over 20,000 industry professionals from all over the world, screening around 350-400 films of every genre, length, and format in its various sections, including Competition, Panorama (dedicated to independent cinema and controversial themes), Forum, Generation (for a young audience), and Berlinale Shorts. Important collateral events such as the European Film Market (EFM), one of the main international film markets, and Berlinale Talents, a campus for emerging filmmakers, further consolidate its crucial role in the global film industry. The festival is not only a celebration of cinematic art but also an important meeting place, cultural exchange, and discovery of new talents, keeping alive its vocation as a “cultural bridge between East and West” and a platform for emerging cinemas.
Below is a complete list of films that have received the Golden Bear for best feature film, a testament to the richness and diversity of world cinema celebrated in Berlin.
Die Vier im Jeep (Four in a Jeep) (1951)
In post-WWII Vienna, divided and occupied by the four Allied powers (United States, United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union), the international patrols are composed of one sergeant from each nation and monitor the international sector aboard a jeep. The narrative focuses on the interactions and tensions between American Sergeant William Long, British Harry Stuart, French Marcel Pasture, and Russian Vassilij Voroshenko. Their routine is complicated by the arrival of Franziska Idinger, a Viennese woman awaiting the release of her husband, Karl, from a prison camp. When Karl escapes before his official release and tries to reach his wife in Vienna, his situation highlights the different priorities and latent conflicts between the occupying forces. While the Western sergeants show some understanding for Franziska, Sergeant Voroshenko has strict orders to capture the escaped prisoner. The film explores the human drama against the backdrop of the occupation, between attempts at cooperation and inevitable ideological clashes, showing the desperation of the Viennese population and the reality of a city in ruins.
…Sans laisser d’adresse (…Without Leaving an Address) (1951)
Thérèse Ravenaz, a young and charming woman from the provinces, arrives in Paris in search of the man who seduced and abandoned her after finding out she was expecting his child. With little money and no precise trace, she gets into a taxi driven by Emile Gauthier, a kind and helpful taxi driver who decides to help her in her desperate search. Together, they scour the streets and neighborhoods of Paris, but the man seems to have vanished. Finally, Thérèse discovers the bitter truth: her seducer is a philanderer who is already married. Fortunately, Emile proves to be a man with a heart of gold.
In Beaver Valley (1951)
The second chapter in Walt Disney’s “True-Life Adventures” nature documentary series, In Beaver Valley offers an intimate and detailed look at the lives of these “nature’s engineers” in their wild, typically North American habitat. The film follows the story of a young male beaver who, after successfully courting a female, dedicates himself to building a sturdy home for his new family before the arrival of winter. The extraordinary abilities of beavers in building dams and lodges surrounded by water are illustrated, transforming the landscape and creating ecosystems useful for other animals such as playful river otters, salmon during their upstream migration, deer, and raccoons. The documentary also shows the daily challenges, including defense against predators and the difficulties imposed by the cycle of the seasons.
Justice est faite (Justice is Done) (1951)
During a trial in Versailles, seven jurors from different social backgrounds are called to decide the fate of Elsa Lundenstein, a doctor accused of killing her husband, also a doctor and terminally ill with cancer, by administering a lethal dose of morphine. The defense claims it was euthanasia, an act of mercy to end his suffering, but the prosecution insinuates that Elsa may have acted out of self-interest, having inherited a considerable sum and already being in another relationship. The film interweaves the phases of the trial with the private lives of the jurors, showing how their personal experiences, prejudices, and secret inclinations inevitably influence their judgment and the final verdict, which will condemn Elsa but with a not excessively harsh sentence.
Cinderella (1951)
This Disney animation classic tells the famous fairy tale of Cinderella, a young and kind girl who, after the death of her mother and her father’s second marriage, is reduced to a servant in her own home by her cruel stepmother, Lady Tremaine, and her spoiled daughters, Anastasia and Drizella. Despite the humiliations, Cinderella maintains a pure heart, finding comfort in the friendship of the household animals, particularly the mice Jaq and Gus Gus. When the King holds a ball to find a wife for the Prince, Cinderella dreams of attending. With the magical help of her Fairy Godmother, who transforms a pumpkin into a carriage, mice into horses, and gives her a glittering dress with glass slippers, Cinderella goes to the ball and enchants the Prince. However, she must flee at the stroke of midnight, before the spell wears off, losing a slipper in her haste, the only clue that will allow the Prince to find her.
Hon dansade en sommar (One Summer of Happiness) (1952)
After graduating, Göran, a Swedish student, goes to spend the summer on his uncle’s farm in the countryside. There he meets Kerstin, a young and charming farm girl, and a spark immediately ignites between them. Their intense and passionate love blossoms among the bright summer nights and swims in the lake, but it must clash with the bigotry and repressive mentality of the local community, embodied above all by the austere and uncompromising figure of the pastor. Despite the hostility of Kerstin’s relatives and the judgment of the people, the two young people live their “summer of happiness,” an idyll, however, destined for a tragic and sudden conclusion due to an accident. The film, awarded in Berlin, caused a stir at the time for its depiction of nudity and its criticism of religious hypocrisy.
Le Salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear) (1953)
In a miserable and isolated South American village, four European men without prospects – the Corsican Mario, the elderly Frenchman Jo, the Tuscan bricklayer Luigi, and the German Bimba – are recruited by an American oil company for a high-risk mission. They must transport two trucks loaded with nitroglycerin, an extremely unstable explosive, across 300 miles of rough and dangerous roads to extinguish a burning oil well. The promised reward is enough to change their lives, but the journey is a race against time and death, where every jolt could be fatal. The constant tension puts a severe strain on the nerves and relationships between the four, revealing courage, cowardice, and the desperate will to survive.
Hobson’s Choice (1954)
In Salford, Lancashire, in 1880, Henry Horatio Hobson is the despotic owner of a renowned boot shop. Widowed and stingy, he exploits his three daughters, Maggie, Alice, and Vicky, making them work without wages and opposing their marriages so as not to have to pay a dowry. While reluctantly agreeing to the marriages of his younger daughters, he considers his eldest daughter Maggie, a thirty-year-old and very capable businesswoman, too indispensable. Tired of her father’s tyranny, Maggie decides to take control of her own destiny: she marries Willie Mossop, the timid but extremely talented shoemaker in the shop, and together they open a competing business. Thanks to Maggie’s acumen and Willie’s skill, the new shop prospers, taking away much of Hobson’s clientele and forcing him to come to terms with his own arrogance and his daughter’s determination.
Die Ratten (The Rats) (1955)
Set in Berlin in the early 1950s, still marked by the wounds of World War II, the film tells the dramatic story of Pauline Karka, a young pregnant Polish refugee with no means. In desperation, she agrees to sell her unborn child to Anna John, the owner of a laundry who cannot have children. Anna will raise the child as her own. However, when Pauline, before moving to West Germany, asks to see her son one last time, Anna categorically refuses. In a moment of panic and confusion, Pauline mistakenly kidnaps the terminally ill child of a neighbor, triggering a series of tragic events. The film is an adaptation of the play of the same name by Gerhart Hauptmann, transposed to the difficult post-war context.
Invitation to the Dance (1956)
An ambitious entirely danced film project, without spoken dialogue, conceived, directed, choreographed, and performed by Gene Kelly. The film is structured in three distinct episodes, each with its own narrative and choreographic style. The first, “Circus,” tells the melancholic story of a clown (Kelly) in love with a dancer, who is, however, attracted to a daring acrobat. The second, “Ring Around the Rosy,” follows the adventures of a bracelet that passes from hand to hand among various lovers, symbolizing the fleetingness of relationships; Kelly plays a marine. The third episode, “Sinbad the Sailor,” sees Kelly in the role of a sailor who, after buying a magic lamp, finds himself dancing in a colorful animated world, interacting with cartoon characters. The work represents a bold experiment in merging cinema and dance, with the participation of famous dancers of the time.
12 Angry Men (1957)
On a sweltering summer day in New York, twelve jurors are called to decide the fate of a young Puerto Rican accused of first-degree murder of his father. A guilty verdict would result in the electric chair. Initially, eleven jurors are convinced of the defendant’s guilt and lean towards a quick conviction. However, Juror Number 8 (played by Henry Fonda), a thoughtful architect, is the only one to vote for acquittal, raising a “reasonable doubt.” Locked in the jury room, the twelve men begin an intense and heated discussion, analyzing the evidence, exposing personal prejudices, apathy, and conformist pressures. Through a tight dialogue and a re-examination of the facts, the group dynamic changes, leading to a gradual reconsideration of the initial certainties in a powerful drama about justice and individual responsibility.
Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries) (1958)
The elderly and esteemed professor of medicine Isak Borg, a cold and detached man, undertakes a car journey from Stockholm to Lund, where he is to receive an honor for his 50 years of career. He is accompanied by his daughter-in-law Marianne, with whom he has a tense relationship. During the journey, which is populated by chance encounters with hitchhikers and old acquaintances, Isak is tormented by vivid dreams and memories of the past. This journey transforms into an internal exploration, forcing him to confront the solitude of his existence, his emotional failures, lost loves, his relationship with his son Evald, and the realization of his own emotional barrenness. The film is a profound reflection on life, death, memory, and the possibility of a late reconciliation with oneself and others.
Les Cousins (The Cousins) (1959)
Charles, a serious, studious, and somewhat naive young man from the provinces, moves to Paris to attend university and goes to live in the apartment of his cousin Paul, a cynical, worldly, and dissolute Parisian boy. While Charles immerses himself in his studies with dedication, Paul leads a life of pleasure, including parties, alcohol, and superficial adventures. Both fall for the same girl, the beautiful and undecided Florence. The contrast between the two characters and lifestyles, Charles’s innocence against Paul’s disillusionment, creates growing emotional tension and a rivalry that culminates in a dramatic and unexpected epilogue. The film is a keen analysis of youth, lost illusions, and moral corruption in Nouvelle Vague Paris.
El Lazarillo de Tormes (1960)
A film adaptation of the celebrated anonymous 16th-century Spanish picaresque novel, La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades. The film follows the adventures of Lázaro, a boy of humble origins who, to survive in a Spanish society marked by poverty and hypocrisy, must serve a series of masters, each of whom embodies a vice or a criticizable aspect of the era. From the cunning and cruel blind man who “weans” him to the harshness of life, to the stingy and ruthless cleric, to the penniless squire obsessed with honor, Lázaro learns to use cunning and deception to get food and get by, offering a satirical and bitter cross-section of Spain in the Golden Age.
La notte (The Night) (1961)
Giovanni Pontano, an established Milanese writer, and his wife Lidia, are going through a deep existential and marital crisis. The film follows them over the course of a day and the following night, starting with a visit to a dying intellectual friend in a clinic. Subsequently, they attend the presentation of Giovanni’s new book, wander around the city, attend a show in a nightclub, and finally, take part in a lavish and endless party at the villa of a wealthy industrialist. During these hours, the couple’s inability to communicate, alienation, boredom, the emptiness of feelings, and the superficiality of the bourgeois world around them emerge strongly. Both seek ephemeral distractions and fleeting adventures, confronting the painful awareness of the end of their love and the barrenness of their lives.
A Kind of Loving (1962)
Vic Brown is a young draughtsman working in a factory in a grim industrial town in northern England. He begins a relationship with Ingrid Rothwell, a typist at the same company. When Ingrid gets pregnant, Vic, albeit reluctantly, agrees to marry her. The couple is forced to live with Ingrid’s mother, an authoritarian and intrusive woman, and Vic begins to feel trapped in a marriage and a life he didn’t desire, full of frustrations and resentment. The film, a representative of British “kitchen sink drama,” realistically explores social pressures, the difficulties of working-class life, dashed expectations, and the complex search for authentic love and a form of happiness in early 1960s England, in an era of social and moral changes.
Bushidô zankoku monogatari (Bushido, Samurai Saga) (1963)
Through a narrative spanning seven generations, from the 17th century to contemporary Japan (1963), the film tells the story of the Iikura family. Susumu Iikura, a modern salaryman, after his fiancée attempts suicide due to his obsessive dedication to work, begins to re-examine his ancestors’ diaries. He discovers a long and tragic chronicle of extreme sacrifices, humiliations, and cruelties suffered by his ancestors in the name of blind and inflexible loyalty (Bushido) towards their feudal lords, and subsequently towards the state or the company. Each episode reveals how his ancestors were forced to violate their own conscience and sacrifice affections and lives to obey often capricious and inhuman orders. The film is a powerful critique of the concept of absolute loyalty and its devastating consequences, drawing a parallel between the samurai code and the pressures of the modern corporate world.
Il diavolo (The Devil) (1963)
Amedeo Ferretti, a mature and naive Italian fur merchant, travels to Sweden on business, while also harboring the secret hope of personally verifying the legendary sexual freedom of Scandinavian women, a myth widely spread in Italy at the time. However, his attempts at approach prove clumsy and unsuccessful. Between cultural misunderstandings, unforeseen events, and his own shyness masked by swagger, Amedeo collects a series of embarrassing situations and disappointments, clashing with a reality very different from his fantasies and exposing the clichés and naivety of the Italian male abroad in search of easy adventures.
Susuz Yaz (Dry Summer) (1964)
In an arid village in Western Anatolia, Osman, an ambitious and ruthless tobacco farmer, decides to seize the water source that springs on his land, building a dam to divert the entire flow to his fields and thus depriving the other villagers of the essential water resource for their survival. His younger brother, Hasan, who is milder and fairer, disapproves of Osman’s actions but cannot effectively oppose him. The situation is further complicated when Hasan marries the young and beautiful Bahar. While Hasan is unjustly imprisoned due to Osman’s machinations, the latter, blinded by greed and lust, attempts to seduce Bahar. The film is a powerful rural drama that explores themes of lust for power, social injustice, the struggle for resources, and the condition of women in a patriarchal society.
Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (Alphaville) (1965)
Secret agent Lemmy Caution, an iconic figure of film noir, is sent on a mission to Alphaville, a dystopian city of the future located in another galaxy. Alphaville is ruled by the powerful computer Alpha 60, created by the scientist Professor von Braun (alias Leonard Nosferatu), who has banned all forms of emotion, love, poetry, and individuality, imposing a rigid logic and punishing any deviation with death. Caution’s task is to find a missing agent, Henri Dickson, and neutralize von Braun. In the alienating city, he meets Natacha, the scientist’s daughter, a young woman who does not know the meaning of words like “love” or “conscience.” Caution will try to awaken human feelings in her and destroy Alpha 60’s totalitarian regime. The film is a singular and innovative fusion of dystopian science fiction, film noir, and philosophical reflection, shot entirely in contemporary Paris, used to represent the futuristic city.
Cul-de-sac (1966)
Two wounded and on-the-run gangsters, the corpulent and unpleasant Richard “Dickie” and his dying companion Albie, find refuge in an isolated and spectral castle on the Northumbrian coast, accessible only at low tide. The castle is inhabited by an eccentric couple: George, a neurotic and submissive former English industrialist, and his young, beautiful, and nymphomaniac French wife, Teresa. The criminals’ intrusion disrupts the couple’s already precarious routine, triggering a claustrophobic and surreal psychological game of humiliations, perversions, power struggles, and black humor. The dynamics between the four characters become increasingly tense and bizarre, with the arrival of unexpected visitors further complicating the situation, leading to a violent and grotesque ending.
Le Départ (The Departure) (1967)
Marc, a young and impulsive apprentice hairdresser from Brussels, has an unrestrained passion for race cars and dreams of participating in an upcoming rally. To do so, he needs a Porsche 911S, but his employer refuses to lend it to him. Determined to achieve his dream, Marc, with the help of his patient and in love girlfriend Michèle, embarks on a series of attempts, often clumsy and bordering on legality, to get the car. This frantic search leads him to experience a series of tragicomic adventures that highlight his immaturity, his inability to commit seriously to his relationship with Michèle, and his childish obsessions. The film, shot with the lively and innovative style of the Nouvelle Vague, is an ironic and bittersweet portrait of youthful anxieties and aspirations.
Ole dole doff (Who Saw Him Die?) (1968)
Sören Mårtensson is an elementary school teacher in Malmö, Sweden. Liberal and idealistic, but inwardly weak and tormented, he struggles daily to maintain control of a class of particularly unruly, provocative, and sometimes cruel students. Each lesson turns into an exhausting power struggle, in which Mårtensson, refusing authoritarian methods, feels progressively overwhelmed and humiliated. The film, shot in black and white with an almost documentary style, acutely explores the teacher’s frustration, his isolation, his sleepless nights populated by nightmares, and the growing generation gap that pushes him towards a tragic psychological breaking point. The original Swedish title, “Ole dole doff,” is the beginning of a children’s counting rhyme, while the international title, “Who Saw Him Die?,” alludes to the protagonist’s dramatic fate.
Rani radovi (Early Works) (1969)
Directly inspired by Karl Marx’s early writings and deeply influenced by the climate of the 1968 student protests in Yugoslavia, the film follows the lives of three young men and a girl named Jugoslava. Animated by fervent revolutionary ideals and a deep contempt for the stagnant routine of petty-bourgeois life, they decide to take action. They go to the countryside and factories with the aim of “awakening the consciousness” of the people and workers, inciting them to fight for emancipation and a more dignified life. However, their enthusiasm clashes harshly with reality: indifference, primitivism, but also their own personal limitations, weaknesses, inability, and internal jealousies within the group. Their mission fails miserably, leading to their arrest and profound disillusionment, culminating in a tragic and strongly symbolic final act, representing the shipwreck of the revolutionary utopia. The film is a key work of the Yugoslav Black Wave, characterized by an allegorical and strongly critical approach.
1970
No Golden Bear awarded. The festival edition was interrupted due to controversies raised by the screening of Michael Verhoeven’s film O.k., a film critical of the Vietnam War. This event led to significant internal reflection within the festival and the subsequent creation of the Forum section, dedicated to more experimental and politically engaged works.
Il giardino dei Finzi Contini (The Garden of the Finzi Continis) (1971)
Based on the masterpiece of the same name by Giorgio Bassani, Vittorio De Sica’s film is set in Ferrara in the crucial years preceding and accompanying the enactment of the fascist racial laws and the outbreak of World War II. At the center of the narrative is the ancient and aristocratic Jewish family of the Finzi Continis, who live isolated from the outside world in the luxurious and enchanted garden of their villa. Here, the young children Micòl and Alberto, together with a group of friends, including the narrator Giorgio (Bassani’s alter ego), spend their days between tennis matches, studies, youthful loves, hopes, and illusions, trying to ignore the growing and menacing shadow of anti-Semitism and war. However, the brutality of history will inexorably break into their protected world, leading to progressive social exclusion, the loss of fundamental rights, and finally, the tragedy of deportation.
I racconti di Canterbury (The Canterbury Tales) (1972)
The second film in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “Trilogy of Life,” The Canterbury Tales is a film adaptation of eight of the famous novellas contained in Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14th-century work of the same name. The narrative framework sees a heterogeneous group of English pilgrims, representing various social classes, traveling to Canterbury Cathedral to pay homage to the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket. To pass the time during the journey, each pilgrim tells a story. The novellas chosen by Pasolini range from the comic to the licentious, from the tragic to the farcical, offering a lively, irreverent, and profoundly human cross-section of medieval society. Pasolini himself appears in the film in the role of Chaucer, the author. With particular attention to the physicality of bodies, popular vitality, and a representation of sex as a natural and pre-ideological force, the director explores themes such as love, death, fortune, the corruption of the clergy, and social hypocrisy, all immersed in an English setting recreated with philological and visionary care.
Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder) (1973)
Directed by Satyajit Ray and based on the novel of the same name by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Distant Thunder is set in a remote village in Bengal during World War II. The film examines with deep humanity the devastating effects of the Great Bengal Famine of 1943, a “man-made” disaster that caused the death of over three million people. The story is narrated through the eyes of Gangacharan, a young educated Brahmin who serves as the village teacher, doctor, and priest, and his wife Ananga. Initially, life in the village flows peacefully, almost unaware of the world conflict, symbolized only by the distant rumble of planes (the “distant thunder”). However, the famine begins to make itself felt with the progressive scarcity of rice and soaring prices. Ray shows with a calm but inexorable rhythm the gradual disintegration of traditional social and moral norms under the pressure of hunger and desperation. The struggle for survival pushes individuals to extreme behaviors, but also brings out gestures of solidarity and a new, painful awareness of human fragility and social injustices.
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)
Duddel “Duddy” Kravitz is a young Jew who grew up in the working-class neighborhood of St. Urbain Street in Montreal during the 1940s. Ambitious, energetic, and unscrupulous, Duddy is obsessed with his grandfather Simcha’s admonition: “A man without land is nobody.” This phrase becomes his mantra, pushing him into a frenetic and unscrupulous race to accumulate money and buy a piece of land on Laurentian Lake, which he considers the symbol of success and social redemption. To achieve his goal, Duddy engages in various commercial ventures, often dishonest or bordering on legality, not hesitating to manipulate and exploit friends, lovers (like the gentle Yvette), and even family members. His relentless determination will lead him to realize his dream, but at a very high price in terms of affections, human relationships, and moral integrity. The film is a bittersweet satire on the obsession with success and the corruption of the “American dream” in a Canadian sauce.
Örökbefogadás (Adoption) (1975)
Kata, a 43-year-old Hungarian factory worker, lives alone and leads an independent life. She ardently desires to have a child with her long-term lover, Jóska, a married man who, however, does not share this desire. Kata’s life takes an unexpected turn when she befriends Anna, a troubled teenager living in a state institution for girls abandoned by their parents since the age of six. Anna often runs away from the institution to meet her boyfriend, Sanyi, whom she wants to marry despite her young age. Kata becomes fond of Anna and decides to help her, interceding with her parents to obtain consent for the marriage. Through her relationship with Anna and her experience with the reality of abandoned children, Kata develops a new sensitivity and awareness, leading her to reconsider her priorities and decide to adopt a child from the orphanage. Márta Mészáros’ film delicately and realistically explores themes such as motherhood, female loneliness, the desire for a family, and social dynamics in 1970s communist Hungary.
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976)
Robert Altman’s film is a pungent satire and a deconstruction of the myth of the American West, centered on the figure of William F. Cody, alias Buffalo Bill, and his famous “Wild West Show.” In 1885, to increase the appeal of his show, Buffalo Bill (played by Paul Newman) hires the legendary Sioux chief Sitting Bull. Bill hopes to exploit the fame of the Indian chief for his commercial purposes, but Sitting Bull refuses to conform to the stereotypical and caricatured image of the wild Indian that the show wants to impose on him. Instead, he insists on representing the historical truth of his people and the injustices suffered. This creates an inevitable conflict with Buffalo Bill, more interested in the creation and sale of spectacular and self-celebratory fiction than in the uncomfortable historical reality. The film ironically and with a typically Altmanesque ensemble style explores the gap between myth and history, the construction of American legends, the commodification of native culture, and the intrinsic racism in the frontier narrative.
Восхождение – Voskhozhdeniye (The Ascent) (1977)
During the cold winter of 1942, in Belarus occupied by Nazi troops, two Soviet partisans, the pragmatic and robust Rybak and the intellectual and former teacher Sotnikov, physically weaker and ill, are sent by their unit in search of food. After a shootout with a German patrol, in which Sotnikov is wounded in the leg, the two take refuge in the house of Demchikha, a peasant woman with three children. However, they are discovered and captured by the Germans along with other villagers. Taken to the headquarters of the local collaborationist police, they are interrogated and tortured by Portnov, a former Russian teacher who has gone over to the service of the Nazis. Faced with the prospect of death, the two men react in diametrically opposite ways: Sotnikov, though exhausted by wounds and torture, faces captivity and execution with stoic dignity, unwavering loyalty to his ideals, and a kind of spiritual, almost Christological transfiguration. Rybak, on the other hand, terrified of death, desperately tries to save his life, going so far as to betray and collaborate with the enemy. Larisa Shepitko’s film is a powerful and austere reflection on the nature of courage, betrayal, sacrifice, faith, and the human condition when faced with extreme choices.
Ascensor (Elevator) (1978)
This Spanish short film stages a situation as common as it is potentially anxiety-inducing: four strangers – a businessman, an elegant woman, a worker, and a priest – find themselves trapped inside an elevator. As the minutes pass and the tension increases due to the forced immobility and uncertainty, the social conventions and masks worn by the characters begin to waver. The claustrophobic environment of the elevator becomes a microcosm in which true personalities, hidden fears, prejudices, and power dynamics emerge between individuals representing different social and human realities, forced into an unexpected confrontation.
Las truchas (The Trouts) (1978)
A sports association of trout fishermen gathers, as every year, for the traditional celebratory banquet in a restaurant. What should be a festive and convivial occasion progressively transforms into a series of surreal, grotesque, and embarrassing events. Various unforeseen circumstances, including a restaurant staff strike, the arrival of unexpected guests, and, above all, the poor quality of the trout served (clearly spoiled), undermine the success of the dinner. Despite the evidence, the diners, representing a certain Spanish bourgeoisie of the Franco era, stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the problem and continue the banquet as if nothing were wrong. The film is a corrosive social satire that, through the metaphor of rotten trout, criticizes the hypocrisy, decadence, and inability to face reality of a ruling class anchored to empty rituals and a worn-out image of respectability.
Las palabras de Max (Max’s Words) (1978)
Max is a sociologist in his fifties, separated from his wife, who lives an existence marked by profound loneliness and a sense of alienation. He tries to fill this inner emptiness through fleeting and often unsatisfactory encounters with friends, a young lover, and old acquaintances. His life partially changes when he has to take care of his teenage daughter, Sara, with whom he establishes a complex relationship, made up of attempts at dialogue and misunderstandings. The film is a portrait of a man searching for meaning in his own existence, in a Madrid marked by the post-Franco transition.
SoloSunny (1980)
Ingrid Sommer, nicknamed “Sunny,” is a young and charismatic singer in a rock band in East Berlin in the 1970s. Rebellious, nonconformist, and intolerant of the rigid social and political conventions of the German Democratic Republic, Sunny dreams of freely expressing her talent and living an authentic life. The film follows her journey through concerts, rehearsals, often complicated romantic relationships, friendships, disappointments, and hopes. Sunny is a complex and contradictory character, torn between the desire for success and the fear of compromising her artistic integrity, between the search for love and the inability to form stable bonds. The film is a vivid and melancholic portrait of a generation of young artists in East Germany, grappling with the contradictions of the socialist system and the search for their own identity.
Deprisa, deprisa (Fast, Fast) (1981)
Set in the degraded outskirts of Madrid, the film follows the lives of four young delinquents: Pablo, Meca, Sebas, and El Pirri. Coming from disadvantaged families with no prospects, the boys dedicate themselves to a life of petty crime, car theft, robberies, and drug use. They live day by day, without rules or future, in an environment of violence, degradation, and cynicism. Their existence is punctuated by fleeing from the police, brawls, nights in discos, and brief romantic relationships. The film, shot in a raw and realistic style, without embellishment or moral judgment, is a ruthless portrait of a lost generation, of marginalized and hopeless youth in the Spain of the democratic transition.
Veronika Voss (1982)
In Munich in 1955, the life of Robert Krohn, a sports journalist, is turned upside down by his encounter with Veronika Voss, a former German film diva of the 1940s, now fallen on hard times and addicted to morphine. Fascinated and disturbed by the woman, Robert begins to investigate her past and her mysterious relationship with Dr. Marianne Katz, an unscrupulous psychiatrist who keeps her under control. Robert discovers a network of corruption and drug trafficking involving Dr. Katz and other influential figures. Veronika, increasingly confused and disoriented, is the victim of a plot that will lead her to a tragic fate. The film, shot in elegant black and white, is a sophisticated and melancholic noir that, through the story of a forgotten diva, explores themes of memory, loss, guilt, and manipulation.
Eine Billige Geschichte (A Cheap Story) (1982)
This German film is an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll’s House,” set in West Germany in the 1980s. Nora Helmer is a young woman married to an authoritarian and macho man, who treats her like a doll, depriving her of autonomy and dignity. Nora feels trapped in a loveless marriage and in a society that relegates her to a subordinate role. When a secret from the past threatens her family, Nora makes a radical decision that overturns her life and her husband’s. The film explores themes of female emancipation, the crisis of bourgeois marriage, and the search for one’s own identity.
Hanna K. (1983)
Hanna Kaufman is a Jewish lawyer working in Israel. Idealistic and committed to defending human rights, Hanna finds herself defending a Palestinian accused of terrorism. The case puts her in front of complex ethical and political dilemmas and forces her to confront the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, its historical roots, and its human consequences. Hanna falls in love with her client, but their relationship is hindered by political and social tensions. The film explores themes of justice, tolerance, identity, and the possibility of overcoming hatred and violence.
Streamers (1984)
Set in a US Army barracks during the Vietnam War, the film follows the lives of a group of young soldiers awaiting deployment to the front. The boys, from different social backgrounds and with different motivations, try to cope with the fear, uncertainty, and brutality of war through camaraderie, music, drugs, and stories. Tension escalates with the arrival of a new soldier, a black guy named Carlyle, who turns out to be violent and unstable. The film explores themes of racism, toxic masculinity, violence, and the devastating effects of war on the human psyche.
Die Frau und der Fremde (The Woman and the Stranger) (1985)
Barbara, a young woman from East Germany, is married to Philipp, an authoritarian and violent man. Unhappy and oppressed, Barbara finds solace in an extramarital affair with Hermann, a sensitive and understanding man. When Philipp discovers the relationship, Barbara’s life is turned upside down. The film explores themes of domestic violence, female emancipation, the search for happiness, and the difficulties of living in a repressive society.
Ginger e Fred (Ginger and Fred) (1986)
Amelia Bonetti and Pippo Botticella, aka “Ginger and Fred,” are two elderly dancers who in the 1940s imitated the famous American couple Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. After years of separation, they are invited to participate in a dismal Christmas television variety show. The reunion between the two rekindles old memories, resentments, and a long-lost passion. The film is a bittersweet satire on the world of commercial television, nostalgia for the past, and the difficulty of aging in a society that celebrates youth and ephemeral success.
Тема (The Theme) (1987)
Yevgeny Pavlovich Yesenin is a famous Soviet writer in a creative crisis. Tired of success and fame, he decides to escape the city and take refuge in a small village to regain inspiration. There he meets Sasha, a young nonconformist and independent woman, who challenges him and pushes him to confront his fears and insecurities. The film explores themes of artistic crisis, the search for meaning in life, the relationship between man and woman, and the tensions between the individual and society.
Rain Man (1988)
Charlie Babbitt, a young and ambitious car salesman, discovers that his father, from whom he had been estranged for years, has left him a fortune in inheritance. However, the money does not go to him, but to his older brother Raymond, an autistic man with an extraordinary memory and mathematical abilities, but unable to live independently. Charlie decides to kidnap Raymond and take him on a journey across the United States, hoping to get his share of the inheritance. During the trip, the two brothers learn to get to know and love each other, overcoming misunderstandings and prejudices. The film explores themes of family, brotherhood, diversity, and the ability to love and accept others.
Kuduz (1989)
Kuduz is a violent and impulsive man, just released from prison. He tries to rebuild his life and win back the love of his wife and children, but his past haunts him. The film explores themes of violence, redemption, the difficulty of changing, and the consequences of one’s actions.
Music Box (1990)
Ann Talbot, a successful lawyer, finds herself defending her father, accused of being a Nazi war criminal. Convinced of her father’s innocence, Ann throws herself into the trial, but the evidence that emerges confronts her with a shocking truth. The film explores themes of memory, guilt, the relationship between fathers and children, and the difficulty of accepting the truth.
La casa del sorriso (The House of Smiles) (1991)
This Italian film is a satirical comedy set in a retirement home for the elderly. A group of residents, tired of the routine and restrictions, decide to rebel and organize a series of pranks and stunts. The film explores themes of aging, loneliness, the will to live, and rebellion against social conventions.
Grand Canyon (1991)
The film interweaves the stories of a group of people from different social and cultural backgrounds living in Los Angeles. A car accident triggers a series of events that leads them to confront the violence, racism, fear, and loneliness of urban life. The film explores themes of diversity, communication, the search for meaning in life, and the possibility of finding unity in a fragmented society.
Utz (1992)
This film tells the story of Kaspar Utz, a man living in Prague who has a passion for collecting porcelain. During the communist era, Utz tries to protect his collection from the authorities, but his life is turned upside down when he decides to emigrate to the West. The film explores themes of passion, loss, memory, and the difficulty of living in a divided world.
Ballhaus (1993)
This German film is a tribute to the history of cinema and dance. Set in a ballroom, the film retraces the highlights of the 20th century through the music, dances, and stories of the characters who frequent the venue. The film explores themes of memory, nostalgia, change, and the ability of art to overcome the barriers of time and space.
Rain without Thunder (1993)
This dystopian science fiction film is set in a future where abortion is illegal in the United States. The film follows the events of a group of people fighting for women’s rights and against an oppressive regime. The film explores themes of freedom, justice, discrimination, and resistance.
L’Appât (The Bait) (1995)
Three young Parisians, Nathalie, Eric, and Bruno, dream of a life of luxury and success. To achieve their goal, they decide to carry out a criminal plan: Nathalie, with her beauty and charm, attracts wealthy men, who are then robbed and killed by Eric and Bruno. The film, inspired by a true crime story, explores themes of lost youth, greed for money, manipulation, and violence.
Sense and Sensibility (1996)
Based on the novel of the same name by Jane Austen, the film tells the story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who find themselves facing financial and emotional difficulties after the death of their father. The film explores themes of love, marriage, family, society, and the social conventions of 19th-century England.
The English Patient (1997)
During World War II, a young Canadian nurse takes care of a severely burned man, known only as “the English patient.” Through his memories, a story of passion, betrayal, and war set in the Sahara Desert emerges. The film explores themes of love, loss, memory, war, and redemption.
Central do Brasil (Central Station) (1998)
Dora, a cynical and disillusioned woman, works at the central station in Rio de Janeiro, writing letters for illiterate people. Her life changes when she finds herself having to accompany an orphaned child in search of his father. The journey through Brazil becomes a path of redemption and discovery for both of them. The film explores themes of loneliness, hope, family, and the search for meaning in life.
The Thin Red Line (1999)
Set during the Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II, the film follows the events of a group of American soldiers. The film explores themes of war, nature, spirituality, life, and death.
Magnolia (1999)
The film interweaves the stories of a group of people living in the San Fernando Valley. An unexpected event (a rain of frogs) disrupts their lives and leads them to confront the past, present, and future. The film explores themes of fate, guilt, forgiveness, and the possibility of finding human connection in a chaotic world.
Száműzetés (Exile) (2000)
This Hungarian film is set in a remote region of Russia. A man returns home after years of absence and tries to rebuild the relationship with his wife and children. The film explores themes of family, memory, loss, and the difficulty of starting over.
Intimacy (2001)
Jay is a man who has a sexual relationship with a woman named Claire. The two meet regularly, but they don’t truly know each other. The film explores themes of desire, loneliness, communication, and the difficulty of establishing an authentic connection with another person.
Bloody Sunday (2002)
The film recounts the events of “Bloody Sunday,” the Sunday in 1972 when the British army shot at a group of Catholic protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland. The film explores themes of violence, justice, truth, and the consequences of the Northern Ireland conflict.
In This World (2003)
The film follows the journey of two young Afghans trying to reach London as refugees. The film explores themes of immigration, poverty, hope, and the search for a better life.
Gegen die Wand (Head-On) (2004)
Cahit, a Turkish-German man with alcoholism problems and suicidal tendencies, meets Sibel, a young Turkish woman who is trying to escape her family’s control. The two decide to marry for convenience, but their relationship turns into something more complex. The film explores themes of identity, freedom, family, tradition, and modernity.
U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha (2005)
This South African film is an adaptation of Bizet’s opera “Carmen,” set in a township near Cape Town. The film explores themes of love, jealousy, violence, and the struggle for survival in a difficult environment.
Grbavica (2006)
Esma, a Bosnian woman living in Sarajevo, tries to obtain a certificate stating that her daughter is the child of a soldier killed during the war. The film explores themes of war, trauma, memory, motherhood, and the difficulty of overcoming the past.
Tuya’s Wedding (2007)
Tuya, a Mongolian woman living in the steppe, is looking for a new husband who can help her take care of her ex-husband, who is paralyzed after an accident. The film explores themes of family, responsibility, tradition, and modernity.
Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad) (2008)
Set in Rio de Janeiro, the film follows the events of a captain of BOPE, a special unit of the Brazilian police, engaged in combating drug trafficking. The film explores themes of violence, corruption, justice, and the brutality of life in the favelas.
Das weiße Band – Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (The White Ribbon) (2009)
Set in a village in northern Germany on the eve of World War I, the film tells a series of mysterious and disturbing events involving the children and their families. The film explores themes of violence, guilt, repression, and the roots of evil.
Bal (Honey) (2010)
This Turkish film tells the story of a child who lives in a remote mountainous region and has a special relationship with his father, a beekeeper. The film explores themes of nature, family, innocence, and loss.
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation) (2011)
An Iranian couple finds themselves facing a difficult decision: stay in Iran to take care of the sick father or emigrate to give their daughter a better future. The film explores themes of family, morality, justice, and the tensions between tradition and modernity.
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die) (2012)
This documentary film tells the story of the staging of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” by a group of inmates in the maximum-security prison of Rebibbia in Rome. The film explores themes of freedom, guilt, redemption, and the ability of art to overcome barriers.
Child’s Pose (2013)
A wealthy and influential Romanian woman tries to protect her son, accused of killing a boy in a car accident. The film explores themes of corruption, power, family, and the difficulty of accepting the truth.
Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014)
A former policeman investigates a series of murders that have the presence of ice and coal as a common thread. The film explores themes of violence, corruption, loneliness, and the search for meaning in a chaotic world.
Taxi (Taxi Tehran) (2015)
Iranian director Jafar Panahi drives a taxi through the streets of Tehran, encountering a series of passengers. The film, shot in secret, explores themes of freedom, censorship, creativity, and daily life in Iran.
Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) (2016)
This documentary tells the story of the island of Lampedusa, a landing point for thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe. The film explores themes of immigration, solidarity, fear, and the difficulty of understanding and welcoming others.
Testről és lélekről (On Body and Soul) (2017)
Two colleagues working in a slaughterhouse in Budapest discover they share the same dreams. The film explores themes of loneliness, communication, human connection, and the possibility of finding love in an unexpected place.
Hunde (Dog Days) (2018)
The film interweaves the stories of a group of people living in Vienna during a particularly hot summer. The film explores themes of loneliness, frustration, violence, and the difficulty of communicating in an individualistic society.
Synonyms (2019)
A young Israeli arrives in Paris and tries to renounce his identity and become French. The film explores themes of identity, belonging, language, and the difficulty of integrating into a different culture.
Irradiés (Irradiated) (2020)
This documentary film explores the consequences of war and violence through a series of archival images. The film explores themes of memory, trauma, resilience, and the human capacity to survive even the worst atrocities.
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021)
A teacher in Bucharest sees her life turned upside down when a private video of her ends up online. The film explores themes of sexuality, privacy, morality, and the difficulty of living in a hyper-connected society.
Alcarràs (2022)
A family that grows peaches in a village in Catalonia faces the threat of being evicted from their land. The film explores themes of family, tradition, loss, and the difficulty of surviving in a rapidly changing world.
Sur l’Adamant (On the Adamant) (2023)
This documentary explores the life of a floating day center in Paris that welcomes people with mental health problems. The film explores themes of madness, creativity, dignity, and the human capacity to find connection even in the most difficult situations.
Dahomey (2024)
This documentary tells the story of the restitution of 26 works of art from the royal treasure of Dahomey (present-day Benin) from France to Benin in 2021. The film explores themes of memory, history, decolonization, and the meaning of the restitution of cultural heritage.
No Other Land (2024)
This documentary tells the story of an improbable friendship between a young Palestinian activist and an Israeli journalist in the occupied West Bank. The film explores themes of friendship, hope, resistance, and the difficulty of living in a conflict.
