Film Festivals

Enough is Enough: Catastrophe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Wed, 27 May 2026 04:28:08 GMT

The scramble for these resources has resulted in the decades of civil war, with various groups and armed bands seeking to gain control of territory.

First They Came for My College: Right-wing “human dust” mount takeover of New College of Florida

Thu, 21 May 2026 03:56:18 GMT

Bresnan’s film sets out the sordid details of this far-right maneuver in all its repulsive transparency.

The consequences of extreme exploitation – Enjoy Your Stay and I Understand Your Displeasure

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:57:31 GMT

Both films underscore a central truth: under capitalism, personal decisions can be so severely restricted that they become almost irrelevant.

Scenario (Szenario): A documentary normalises German militarism

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 01:20:44 GMT

The director says she had “real images of war in her mind” while filming and wonders about “what context I see them”—but “context” is precisely what is missing from her film.

Berlinale Retrospective: A look back at the fall of the Berlin Wall—“Lost in the 90s”

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 01:12:16 GMT

The burning problems of the present day, genocidal wars, dictatorship and increasing social decline, bring to mind the claims made in the period immediately following the end of the Cold War.

More Berlinale short films: Cosmonauts, With a Kind Regard, Graft Versus Host

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 23:24:14 GMT

In the face of official prejudice and indifference, filmmakers fight for solidarity and compassion in a series of short films at the Berlin film festival.

Berlinale short films: A search for social cohesion and direction in a world full of war and disasters

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 02:28:12 GMT

The selection, which also included animations, offered some whimsical pieces, many focused on individual emotions, as well as thoughtful explorations of social and historical issues.

Blind in the right eye – Prosecution – and a documentary about German dramatist Einar Schleef

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:57:56 GMT

In an interview, the film’s young director correctly noted: “We can’t really understand the German judicial system without taking its Nazi past into account."

A warning against dictatorship: Berlinale’s main prize winner Yellow Letters—and more government censorship at the festival

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 03:00:17 GMT

The German-Turkish-French co-production Yellow Letters by Ilker Çatak is a powerful warning against the threat of censorship and state oppression, including in Germany and other countries.

German government declares “no politics” at the Berlinale ... unless it’s the politics of the government

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 03:38:49 GMT

The films reviewed here are collaborations between Israeli and Arab filmmakers and actors seeking to come to grips with the catastrophic consequences of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people.

Increasing social criticism in Berlin and a new, committed tone of film realism: The Red Hangar from Chile

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 23:35:02 GMT

A growing number of younger filmmakers are turning their attention to history and the current threats to human relationships posed by war, state repression, fascist violence and extreme exploitation.

Berlinale award winners demand festival and its backers take a clear stand against Gaza genocide

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 03:34:02 GMT

The support for Israel’s genocidal policy by the German government and cultural institutions was the subject of fierce and prolonged protest at this year’s Berlinale.

More than 100 film artists condemn Berlinale’s censorship of opposition to Israel’s Gaza genocide

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 01:34:32 GMT

The open letter quotes Chinese artist Ai Weiwei who described what was taking place in Germany as “doing what they did in the 1930s.”

Berlin film festival jury president Wim Wenders insists the role of artists is to “stay out of politics”

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 02:17:06 GMT

Well-known Indian author Arundhati Roy announced her plan to turn down an invitation to attend the festival due to her disgust at the comments made by Wenders and other jury members.

Film, television and trends and events in art and culture in 2025

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 05:29:17 GMT

It was inevitable that new tensions should find expression in artists’ work and erupt as well as within existing industries and institutions

The Voice of Hind Rajab, film on the murder of 6-year-old girl in Gaza, finally receives distribution in US

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 04:42:51 GMT

The film had until recently been the target of pro-Zionist political censorship in the US and in Hollywood’s upper echelons in particular.

Toronto International Film Festival to screen propaganda film for Israel’s genocide in Gaza

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 02:44:09 GMT

The process by which the film became a TIFF marquee event underscores the central role financial and imperialist foreign policy interests play in the country’s major cultural institutions.

82nd Venice International Film Festival: Thousands protest against the genocide in Gaza

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 03:33:57 GMT

Organizers of the anti-genocide rally described it as “possibly the largest protest ever seen at a major film event.”

At Cannes film festival: Robert De Niro speaks out against Trump and dictatorship, more opposition to Gaza genocide and Kevin Spacey denounces blacklisting

Fri, 23 May 2025 01:11:15 GMT

De Niro finished his speech by recalling the revolutionary slogans of the French Revolution—“Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité.”

Only on Earth (Spain), The Wolves Always Come at Night (Mongolia), I Dreamed His Name (Colombia), The Brink of Dreams (Egypt) and Beloved Tropic (Panama): Sincerity and passivity

Tue, 20 May 2025 04:33:47 GMT

There are many difficult, urgent social, political and cultural problems at present. And there are numerous filmmakers willing to address them, to one extent or another.

Hundreds of directors, writers, actors denounce Israeli genocide in Gaza and the film industry’s “silence,” “indifference” and “passivity”

Wed, 14 May 2025 04:28:37 GMT

The letter begins by calling attention to the fate of 25-year-old Fatma Hassoun, a Palestinian freelance photojournalist, murdered in an Israeli air strike on April 16.

Ricky, Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo) and American social reality, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud and Triumph from Bulgaria

Fri, 09 May 2025 21:38:55 GMT

To find in reality the basis for changing the existing state of things, the artist has to approach reality with anger and partisanship.

Souleymane’s Story, Xoftex and Where the Wind Comes From: “I don’t know why I came to France”

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 02:38:08 GMT

The phrase “precarious work” may be metaphorical in some cases, but in the unstable and perilous existence Souleymane leads the “precariousness” is real and ever-present.

The Settlement, a highly topical film from Egypt dealing with the working class

Sun, 30 Mar 2025 23:49:10 GMT

This is a gripping film, without nostalgic working class romanticism or "proletarian hero" pathos, and also without the moralistically tinged tone of petty-bourgeois intellectuals, which characterises many other socially critical films.

Vivian Qu’s Girls on Wire from China—A doomed attempt to combine social realism with #MeToo

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 01:38:11 GMT

The message of the movie appears not to go beyond the platitudes of MeToo: that “women” although, inevitably the victim, are also “strong,” while men invariably tend to be bad.

Two films dealing with racism and fascism: The Moelln Letters and The Lie

Sat, 22 Mar 2025 02:13:45 GMT

Together with The German People, the documentaries The Moelln Letters and The Lie were met with great interest at this year’s Berlin film festival.

Healthcare on the brink: Palliative Care Unit and Late Shift

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 01:11:08 GMT

Late Shift in particular is a stirring tribute to an important layer of the working class that takes its work seriously despite adverse circumstances.

More short films in Berlin—Mother’s Child from the Netherlands, Ordinary Life and global clickworkers in Their Eyes

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 02:19:09 GMT

Films about the end of the welfare state, government surveillance and a new form of global wage slavery.

Short films and their view of history: How Are You?, Lloyd Wong, Unfinished and Ceasefire

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 01:32:17 GMT

Many of the 20 short films from 18 different countries at this year’s Berlinale dealt with historical issues in one way or another.

Three valuable films from Palestine and Germany: Yalla Parkour, Köln 75, Leibniz

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 02:20:00 GMT

Yalla Parkour highlights the resilience of the youth in Gaza, their courageous attempts to make something out of nothing.

Actress Tilda Swinton condemns “state-perpetrated and internationally enabled genocide” at Berlinale

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 01:42:57 GMT

In her vivid, at times poetic remarks, Swinton described the cinema as a boundless haven of freedom and solidarity, qualities increasingly difficult to find in the world.

The political censorship of No Other Land in the US, the film exposing Israeli criminality and violence on the West Bank: “Americans have a responsibility”

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 02:14:20 GMT

To speak the truth about oppression in the West Bank is impermissible because it unavoidably points to the wider issue of Zionist crimes.

Film, television and politics in 2024

Tue, 31 Dec 2024 04:10:22 GMT

Amid war, austerity and the promotion of far-right forces, a major radicalisation of workers and youth is underway. Films and television series have spoken very weakly so far to these complex, convulsive processes.

No Other Land playing in New York for one week but no US distributor—A courageous indictment of Israel’s crimes and its defenders

Sat, 02 Nov 2024 02:09:32 GMT

The film recounts the expulsion of Palestinian villagers from Masafer Yatta, a settlement of 19 villages south of Hebron in the West Bank.

2024 Cannes Film Festival: #MeToo shows its reactionary colors

Sat, 25 May 2024 02:45:38 GMT

In the face of mass murder in Gaza and unfolding world war, the #MeToo activists demonstrated their indifference to the mass suffering.

Agent of Happiness, Sidonie in Japan, Woodland: “Do I have to say I’m happy?”

Sat, 04 May 2024 03:00:41 GMT

Agent of Happiness is a documentary about the “Gross National Happiness” survey conducted in the small kingdom of Bhutan, situated between India and China.

The Teacher, from the occupied West Bank, and Empty Nets from Iran: “The system … is perverted”

Thu, 02 May 2024 00:19:20 GMT

The ongoing Israeli mass murder in Gaza and stepped up brutality and repression on the West Bank provide immediate, living context, if such be needed, for Farah Nabulsi’s film.

Herzsprung (1992): A sober look at German reunification

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 00:02:08 GMT

The recent Berlinale presented a series of German films from the postwar period as part of its annual Retrospective with the title: “An Alternate Cinema—From the Archives of the German Cinematheque.”

Short films in Berlin: Surreal and realistic depictions of “the absurdity of our capitalist times”

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 01:39:32 GMT

Wars, climate catastrophes, social devastation—the state of global capitalism are the real basis of many of the short films shown at this year’s Berlinale.

Golden Bear winner Dahomey and Which Way Africa?

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 01:13:40 GMT

The awarding of the Golden Bear to the documentary by the French-Senegalese director Mati Diop is an indication that the dominant influence of identity politics in the cultural sector is losing ground.

From Hilde, With Love: Resistance to fascism then and now

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 02:33:44 GMT

With its portrayal of the young anti-fascist Hilde Coppi, Andreas Dresen’s new film recalls the varied forms of resistance to Hitler pursued by young people and working-class circles—so-called ordinary Germans.

Will books be burned again in Germany?

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:28:39 GMT

Because some Berlinale laureates and jurors had the courage to call things by their right names instead of being mouthpieces of the powers that be, they are treated like criminals.

Berlin Film Festival: Artists courageously speak out against Israel’s genocide despite right-wing media agitation

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 03:06:02 GMT

In a significant blow to the German political establishment and media the documentary film No Other Land won the Panorama Audience Award at this year’s film festival. A number of film makers made powerful statements against Israel’s genocide.

No Other Land–A courageous statement against Israel’s crimes and their defenders

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 00:41:30 GMT

The documentary is a courageous and unsparing indictment of the German, American and other Western governments.

Over 200 film workers protest participation of fascist AfD at Berlin film festival

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 01:48:43 GMT

By inviting the AfD, the Berlin Senate and the Green Party-led Culture Ministry are repudiating the Berlinale’s 2019 pledge to deny a “platform for racist-nationalist propaganda.”

Interview with Hany Abu-Assad, Palestinian filmmaker (Paradise Now, Omar): “Gaza is the Bastille of our day … a lot is going to change”

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 03:09:06 GMT

One of his most accomplished works is Omar, a 2013 film about a young Palestinian baker (Adam Bakri) who becomes involved in complex political and moral matters.

The Academy Award nominations, a protest at Sundance and political repression in Hollywood over Gaza genocide

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 06:01:40 GMT

The nominations reflect the different impulses at work in Hollywood. On the one side, genuine concerns about the state of the world; on the other, limited artistic conceptions, commercial pressures and the demands of identity politics.

How to Come Alive with Norman Mailer: A documentary approaches the American novelist with sympathy, but not enough scrutiny

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:43:01 GMT

The documentary follows the writer from his boyhood in the 1930s through his service during World War II and throughout his tumultuous literary, journalistic and personal life.

The Riot Report: A conscientious, flawed examination of the 1967-68 Kerner Commission

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 02:40:11 GMT

The film does not make the point that immediately strikes any politically conscious viewer: such a serious investigation into an urgent social crisis could never happen today.

Three Promises: A Palestinian family’s view of the Second Intifada

Sun, 17 Dec 2023 22:40:52 GMT

A documentary about how one West Bank family endured the uprising has burning relevance as Israel intensifies its genocidal campaign against the population of Gaza.