Berlinale 2025 Archives

Hot Milk

Straight from the official competition of the Berlin Film Festival comes the debut directorial of the excellent screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz who wrote the Oscar winning screenplay for “Ida” and the lesbian drama “Disobedience”.

“Hot Milk” is a story of a mother and daughter unfolding during a hot Spanish summer and is based on the critically acclaimed novel by Deborah Levy. Sofia (Emma Mackey, star of “Sex Education”) is taking care of her demanding mother Rose (veteran actress Fiona Shaw) who is wheelchair bound. They come to Spain to meet with a local doctor (Vincent Perez) who is known for his unconventional treatments to find a potential medicine for the mother’s mysterious illness.

The visit takes a turn when the young girl meets a German woman on the beach (Vicky Krieps “Love Me Tender”) and allows herself for the first time to test her boundaries and experience sexual enjoyment for the first time on her way to unshackle herself from her mother and towards self-fulfillment and adolescence.

In her debut directorial Rebecca Lenkiewicz explores the interpersonal relationships between a mother and her daughter and creates a thrilling psychological drama that burns itself under the skin. Mackey and Shaw are excellent in the leading roles.

Blue Moon

“Blue Moon”, Richard Linklater’s delightful new film, centers on one important night which changes the course of life for one Lorenz Hart (“Blue Moon”, “The Lady Is a Tramp”, “Manhattan” and “My Funny Valentine”). This particular night happens to be March 31st, 1943, which is the opening night of the Broadway production of “Oklahoma!”.

During this night, in real time, Hart discovers that Richard Rodgers, his creative partner, abandons their project in favor of a new partnership with Oscar Hammerstein, with whom he writes the successful plays that include: “Carousel”, “The King and I”, “South Pacific” and “The Sound of Music”.

Ethan Hawke delivers an impactful performance as Lorenz Hart, a closeted alcoholic, who also likes to be in the presence of young women. One of these women, played by Margaret Qualley (“The Substance”). Bobby Cannavale portrays a bartender. Richard Rodgers, Hart’s friend and secret lover, who leaves him abruptly because of his unstable nature, is perfectly portrayed by Andrew Scott (“All of Us Strangers”).

“Blue Moon” captures an especially painful moment during an evening which marks the end of a career for a tortured genius, while doing so with a comedic touch and a painfully sobering style. All this results in 100 minutes which are unique and especially amazing.

Ari

Winner of ‘Golden Camera’ Leonor Serraille’s third film (“Jeune femme” “Mother and Son”) brings us an authentic and intimate portrait of a lost young man. Ari is an elementary school teacher who suffers a nervous breakdown in the middle of class. His father kicks him out of the house being fed up with his son’s lack of direction, who at 30 years old still refuses to take life seriously and he wants his son to take responsibility for once in his life.

Ari finds himself wandering the streets of Lille, trying to make connections with old friends, exes and strangers. Through his journey, bisexual Ari will discover he’s not the only one who feels loneliness and alienation in the modern world.

Director Leonor Serraille manages through actor Andranic Manet to turn Ari into a vulnerable yet relatable character, despite his many flaws. A character that is slowly letting go of its fear and for the first time is ready to face reality. This is a small and moving film.

In association with the Embassy of France & Institut français de Tel Aviv

Houses

Sasha (28) is non-binary, having relocated to Israel from the former Soviet Union with their family in 1990, back when he still had his two ponytails.

Today, Sasha owns nothing more than a car and a notebook and tries to understand why.

They write in his notebook: “A house has no function if it is not lived in, the body has no value if we do not identify with it, and the heart has no comfort if it has no love״.

And goes back on a transformational journey between the houses where he used to live. Weaving together past and present, male and female, reality and fantasy, Sasha pieces memories, faces old traumas, and their deepest fears— all in pursuit of inner peace and self-acceptance.

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