Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell review – jewel of slow cinema is a wondrous meditation on faith and death
Much is open-ended about this realist yet dreamlike exploration of midlife crisis and regret set in Vietnam
Driving Mum review – droll Icelandic road movie
With the body of his mother in the backseat, a man fulfils her last wish on a life-changing drive across the country in Hilmar Oddsson’s oddball odyssey
Red Island review – cocktails, colonialism and comics in 70s Madagascar
The last days of French rule on the island play out though the eyes of a young boy in 100 Beats Per Minute director Robin Campillo’s autobiographically-inspired drama
Four Daughters review – emotionally wrenching look at why two Tunisian girls turned to fundamentalism
Director Kaouther Ben Hania weaves a real family’s reminiscences with dramatic reconstructions in this compelling, Oscar-nominated documentary
Sex, lies and sundowners: Robin Campillo on turning his army brat childhood into a film
The cult director grew up on the luscious island of Madagascar just as it was casting off French rule. It was a deliriously happy time for him – but now he realises what was really going on
Driving Mum review – happy-sad Icelandic road movie hits the spot
This quirky story of a lonely farmer and his deceased mother celebrates the Nordic country’s breathtaking landscape
Berlin film festival 2024 roundup – tasty treats and the odd potboiler
A careworn Cillian Murphy excelled, Atlantics director Mati Diop returned, astronaut Adam Sandler had us drifting off, and kitchen dramas continued to sizzle
Dying review – the biggest conductor meltdown since Cate Blanchett’s Tár
Lars Eidinger plays the man embarking on a major orchestral project, but whose professional status is threatened by family turmoil behind the scenes
Eureka review – Lisandro Alonso’s meditation on Indigenous life is striking but slow
The latest from the Argentine auteur, with a star turn from Viggo Mortensen, is formally daring but often deathly dull
Hors du Temps (Suspended Time) review – lockdown memoir revives childhood bliss
Olivier Assayas’ thinly disguised autobiographical study of a film-maker’s Edenic experience during Covid isolation is a civilised pleasure
My Favourite Cake review – charming portrayal of a 70-year-old Iranian’s appetite for romance
Heroine Mahin (Lily Farhadpour) is fiercely determined to revitalise her mundane existence and taste a better life
Repentance review – dreamlike satire from Soviet Georgia brings life to Stalinist ghosts
1980s black comedy unravels the brutal legacy of a despot who is as ludicrous as his crimes are appalling
Samsara review – unlike anything else you will experience in the cinema
Part film, part guided meditation, Lois Patiño’s tale of a Lao woman’s death and rebirth is partly designed to watch with your eyes closed
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser review – Herzog’s early masterpiece is bold and brilliant
Rereleased for its 50th anniversary, this gripping retelling of a true story about a disturbed youth who finds favour in high society, features a masterstroke of casting
Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer review – master director’s passionate idealism
Account of the German film-maker’s singular career takes in numerous starry admirers but also is a portrait of an existential disruptor