Berlin 2022: the 10 best movies, from Peter von Kant to Chinese competition entry Return to Dust, and Both Sides of the Blade with Juliette Binoche

Denis Menochet brilliantly plays a domineering film director in Peter von Kant; Incredible But True is an absurdist comedy that examines our fear of ageing

Return to Dust is a beautifully sensitive work full of dignity and humility, while Both Sides of the Blade takes an intimate and intense look at relationships

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Denis Menochet (left) and Isabelle Adjani in a still from Peter von Kant, one of the 10 best movies at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival.

Published: 7:15am, 17 Feb 2022

The 72nd Berlin Film Festival has undeniably been a strange affair.

After 2021’s virtual edition, a necessary evil thanks to the pandemic, the hope was that the 2022 Berlinale would be back with a bang. The Omicron Covid-19 variant spoiled that, but organisers have soldiered on, slimming down the programme and cutting the festival back by four days.

Industry guests and journalists – those that came – were subjected to rigorous daily testing. Meanwhile, the lack of Hollywood presence was notable, and even confirmed guest Isabelle Huppert, due to receive an honorary award, was forced to stay home after contracting the virus.

But all this aside, there were rewards to be found in the official selection. Here, in no particular order, are the 10 best films from this year’s festival.

Incredible But True

Is there a more imaginative filmmaker out there right now than Quentin Dupieux? The French writer-director behind Rubber, Deerskin and Mandibles is fast rivalling Charlie Kaufman as cinema’s greatest poet of the weird.