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If the title of Simon Brückner’s new documentary conjures images of Bavarian beer halls or seedy nights at Kit Kat, don’t get your hopes up. There is an ample amount of beer in A German Party, and even the occasional modest beer hall, but the lasting effect of Brückner’s film is far more sobering. A German Party is documentary as political procedural: engrossing, depressingly comic, and never less than concerning, it charts two years in the political ecosystem of the Alternative für Deutschland, a fringe party with a stronghold in the former East that shook the nation in 2017 when it picked up 97 seats in the General election—or roughly 13 of the vote.

Though the task is as tricky as it is counterproductive, Brückner makes efforts to appear objective—his film is impressively non-preachy, even if you feel next to no one on the right will be watching...

The Swiss documentary festival has unveiled the line-ups for its Grand Angle and Latitudes sections.

Swiss documentary festival Visions du Réel has unveiled the line-ups for its Grand Angle and Latitudes sections, ahead of the full programme’s announcement on March 15, which includes A House Made Of Splinters, set in a children’s home in Eastern Ukraine.

A statement from the festival said: “Visions du Réel is joining the international movement of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, who are fighting for their freedom. We express our support for Ukrainian artists and filmmakers, and for all those whose lives are threatened and upended by the war.

Films by auteurs Claire Denis, Hong Sangsoo and Rithy Panh are part of the lineup in competition at the 72nd Berlin Film Festival.

Berlin’s 2022 selection spans 18 movies, seven directed by women, which will compete for the Golden and Silver Bears. The films originate from 15 countries, with 17 serving as world premieres. Two of the films are first features, both from women.

Artistic director Carlo Chatrian discussed the thematic throughline of “human and emotional bonds” across the selection, with the family unit serving as a key focal point in a number of movies. More than half are set in the present time, and two are within the pandemic era.

The festival hosts 12 returning filmmakers, eight of whom are in competition and five of whom already hold a Bear from Berlin.

The festival will go ahead as an in-person event, albeit with seating capacity in movie theaters reduced to 50% and without any parties or receptions.