Christian Petzold braids desire, artistic insecurity and the looming threat of climate change in his smouldering comedy of manners set over the course of a hot summer holiday on a Baltic coastline beset with forest fires.
Festival Programme
Films — by Genre
Award-winners
![Beyond Utopia](/assets/resized/sm/upload/q6/vt/t3/e0/B_Y41TaY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=40dfea3f31)
Beyond Utopia
In this astonishing, edge-of-the-seat chronicle, the camera follows audacious, high-risk quests to escape from North Korea, and the man who plans them, with a rare intimacy and emotional power.
![EO](/assets/resized/sm/upload/ol/8n/93/wo/EO-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=0f1f680ae6)
EO
Hi-han
Strap in for an unforgettable, visionary trip, an Oscar-nominated journey that stunned Cannes with its cinematic flair. Your hosts? An octogenarian Polish auteur – and a donkey.
![Fallen Leaves](/assets/resized/sm/upload/bw/6g/lj/os/HERO_LESFEUILLESMORTES_Photo1_Malla_Hukkanen_c_Sputnik-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=ea6b493ab8)
Fallen Leaves
Kuolleet lehdet
We close this year’s festival with the most delightful film from Cannes. Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki returns with a deadpan romantic crowdpleaser about two lost souls on a bumpy road to finding each other.
![Monster](/assets/resized/sm/upload/db/03/ln/33/HERO_KBX7174_4h_S_C_R%20(c)2023%20Monster%20Film%20Committee-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=9fe61f9e36)
Monster
Kaibutsu
Straight from Cannes where its intricately composed script was deservedly awarded, Kore-eda Hirokazu’s latest is a deeply affecting and morally complex drama told from multiple perspectives.
![Perfect Days](/assets/resized/sm/upload/my/mv/jv/68/HERO_01_perfectdays_koji-yakusho_arisa-nakano_2023-master-mind-ltd-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=347e7a8a19)
Perfect Days
Wim Wenders hits the sweet spot with this deceptively simple character study chronicling the daily life of a Tokyo cleaner, which is emotionally resonant in its stunning attention to detail and filmic poetry.
![Radical](/assets/resized/sm/upload/nd/wo/uw/wo/Radical%20-%20Photo%20Credit%20Mateo%20Londono-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=d551baced4)
Radical
This rousing crowdpleaser starring Eugenio Derbez (CODA) as a Mexican teacher who thinks outside the box picked up the top Audience Award at this year’s Sundance film festival.
![Riceboy Sleeps](/assets/resized/sm/upload/gj/ud/9w/nb/IMG_4137_HEROweb-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=ad98a3153b)
Riceboy Sleeps
A Korean single mother immigrates to Canada with her young son in the 1990s and must navigate the challenges of motherhood and adapting to a new world in this poignant award-winning coming of age drama.
![Saint Omer](/assets/resized/sm/upload/4c/lc/93/vi/XM0Cy85E-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=182b5b8a42)
Saint Omer
Drawing on a tragic true event, this multi-awarded and mesmerising, stately courtroom drama upends notions of race, cultural heritage, class and female agency, and the mythologies and social prejudices underpinning received ideas.