Reverse Shot A different angle on moving images—past, present, and future

The Berlinale takes great pride in promoting itself as the most politically conscious and engaged of the A-list film festivals. After the events of the past year in Europe, refugees were the salient topic of its latest edition.

Victoria follows in the footsteps of Wim Wenders’s Wings of Desire and Fred Kelemen’s Fate, perhaps the last great films to eloquently characterize the city by employing a cinematic language that reflects its contemporary zeitgeist.

The rampant gentrification experienced in Berlin over the last decade has taken a heavy toll on the city’s much-touted cultural diversity. Yet, one area that’s proved remarkably resilient is film—or, more specifically, film-watching.