His previous feature Blaga's Lesson won Stephan Komandarev a Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary as well as being selected as Bulgaria's entry for the Oscars, the third time the filmmaker received this recognition. His new drama draws on a real-life case to expose the human toll of inhumane working conditions and a ruthless globalized production market. Made in EU follows an exploited Bulgarian factory worker who becomes the target of public outrage and systematic scapegoating after being labeled "patient zero" during the Covid-19 pandemic. Before the theater opening of his film, Komandarev spoke with Lidanoir about the story's true foundations, shooting where the actual events took place, and making cinema with a social conscience.

Right after Sundance, where Olive Nwosu's gripping feature film debut premiered in World Cinema Dramatic Competition, the British-Nigerian filmmaker bring Lady to the Berlinale. Combining personal drama and social panorama with crime thriller elements, the plot follows a female taxi driver and her childhood friend through the nightly streets of Lagos, where painful memories and danger lurk. Amidst the festival bustle at Berlinale, Nwosu tells about Lady's realistic background, the challenges in bringing the story to the screen, authentic Nigerian cinema, and working with lead actress Jessica Gabriel's Ujah and the cast, who were recognized with the Special Jury Award for Acting at Sundance but not granted US visas.

Die 76. Berlinale ist vorbei und auf dem Potsdamer Platz ist wieder Ruhe eingekehrt. Als Abschluss haben sich unsere Kritiker*Innen Lida Bach und Jakob Jurisch zum Gespräch getroffen, um ihre Festivalerfahrungen zu rekapitulieren.

Sie sprechen über den aktuellen Stand der Berlinale, die kontroverse Pressekonferenz um Jury-Präsident Wim Wenders und natürlich über zahlreiche gesehene Filme.

Die im Podcast besprochenen Filme sind:

Eröffnungsfilm No Good Men von Shahrbanoo Sadat
Gelbe Briefe von Illkar Catak (Gewinner des Goldenen Bären)
Dao von Alain Gomis
Nightborn von Hanna Bergholm
Rosebush Pruning von Karim Ainouz
Salvation von Emin Alper (Gewinner des Silbernen Bären: Großer Preis der Jury)
Rose von Markus Schleinzer (Gewinner des Silbernen Bären: Beste Hauptrolle für Sandra Hüller)
We Are All Strangers von Anthony Chen
Meine Frau weint von Angela Schanelec
Josephine von Beth de Araújo

Wir wünschen viel Spaß beim Zuhören!

Opening the 76th Berlinale with her third feature film No Good Men is a big step for Shahrbanoo Sadat who experienced herself the harrowing crisis awaiting her protagonist. Outspoken cinematographer Naru, played by Sadat herself, is a character closely modelled after herself. Ahead of her film's premiere screening at the Berlinale opening gala, the Iranian director spoke with Lidanoir about the tense time when the Taliban took Kabul in August 2021, living in a fundamentalist patriarchal society, and moments of love and joy in violent times.

Trauer und Freude, Lachen und Schmerz, Glück und dessen Verlust: Zwischen diesen heilbaren Gegensätzen oszilliert Adrian Goigingers biographisch inspiriertes Drama um Clown Barbara, die bei einem Autounfall plötzlich ihren Ehemann und die beiden Kinder verliert. Robert Stadlober verkörpert in Vier Minus Drei, der auf der Berlinale in der Sektion Panorama Premiere feiert, den Clown-Kollegen und beruflichen wie privaten Partner der Protagonistin, die durch ihre Kunst einen eigenen Weg aus dem Schmerz findet. Im Interview sprechen Regisseur Goiginger und Hauptdarsteller Stadlober mit Lidanoir über den Umgang mit dem herausfordernden Thema, Clownerie als Charaktererweiterung und die Nähe zur realen Vorlage der bewegenden Geschichte.

Ahead of the start of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, director Tricia Tuttle talks innovations and progress of the program, diversity and inclusion, and more.

Part of Moviebreak's Sundance 2026 coverage are the several podcast episodes in which our critics Lida and Patrick report from the on-site ongoings in Park City, where the festival gathers veterans and new talent of US independent cinema.

The final Sundance Podcast episode for this year is also the last episode in Park City forever. Just after the awards ceremony, guest critic Olivia and Lidanoir talk about winner titles both from the dramatic and documentary sections: US Documentary Competition Winner Nuisance Bear examines the shifting relationship between humans and polar bears close to the arctic circle. Shifting between doc-drama and fiction is Take Me Home, an observational family drama which has the director’s cognitively challenged sister play herself. After a second glance at US Dramatic Competition honoree Josephine, we discuss wryly humorous Lithuanian Best Direction winner How to Divorce During the War as well as the out of competition documentary tribute to Billie Jean King, Give Me the Ball!

Part of Moviebreak's Sundance 2026 coverage are the several podcast episodes in which our critics Lida and Patrick report from the on-site ongoings in Park City, where the festival gathers veterans and new talent of US independent cinema.

Episode #5 brings you more of the festival’s extraordinary documentary sections: Lidanoir and guest critic Xavier discuss Sara Dosa’s visually stunning meditation on memory and loss in the face of climate change Time and Water, and the new work by Sundance veteran Alex Gibney who uses the harrowing knife attack on Salman Rushdie to raise questions about free speech, political concessions to religious fundamentalists, and the personal impact of trauma. Xavier shares his perspective on youth drama Burn; and we have the newest work by another festival regular, Jay Duplass’ tragicomical examination of grief and family dynamics See You When I See You.

Part of Moviebreak's Sundance 2026 coverage are the several podcast episodes in which our critics Lida and Patrick report from the on-site ongoings in Park City, where the festival gathers veterans and new talent of US independent cinema.

In episode 4, the conversation shifts once more to four Sundance 2026 titles that confront pressure, power, and personal resilience from very different angles: The Invite, a tense, slow-burning study of social dynamics and unspoken threat; The Brittney Griner Story, a powerful documentary portrait of an athlete caught at the intersection of sport, politics, and identity; Burn, a raw and urgent depiction of lives pushed to the brink; and The Weight, an introspective drama exploring emotional burden, responsibility, and the quiet costs of endurance.

Part of Moviebreak's Sundance 2026 coverage are the several podcast episodes in which our critics Lida and Patrick report from the on-site ongoings in Park City, where the festival gathers veterans and new talent of US independent cinema.

In episode 3, Patrick discusses the charms of John Wilson's digressive documentary The History of Concrete, as well as his disappointments with Kogonada's lowkey high-concept drama zi. Lida looks at Petra Volpe's Swiss-English prison drama Frank & Louis and, occasioned by Adam Meeks Ohio-set drama Union County, teaches Patrick the differences between opioids and opiates.