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The fall of the Berlin Wall adds a level of gravitas to any film and the unbelievable true story of Two to One from writer-director, Natja Brunckhorst, is no different.

But the humour woven throughout coupled with the political commentary and a great cast featuring Sandra Hüller helps elevate the film.

We sit down with Natja to chat about how her personal experiences made it into the screenplay, what she would do if she discovered a bunker full of cash and the wise words of Steven Spielberg when it comes to working on new projects.

Synopsis

It’s 1990, and the reunification of East and West Germany is looming; the old East German currency is about to become worthless. When friends Maren (Hüller), Robert (Max Riemelt), and Volker (Ronald Zehrfeld) stumble upon a trove of notes, they hatch an elaborate scheme with their neighbours to capitalise on the find.

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Natja Brunckhorst’s “Two to One” is a social comedy taking potshots at the interval between East and West Germany’s reunification. In the 1990s, the Berlin Wall collapsed, and there were these intense months of upheaval. The future looks terribly uncertain, grim, and unsalvageable. Financially, it’s a mess. People’s lives are caught in doldrums. Is there any chance of recompense? This irretrievability is what the film taps into all its abundant exasperation, desire to rebuild life and surge forth despite umpteen hurdles. Who knows what the future holds?

Maren (Sandra Huller) is keenly aware of her life being perched on standstill. She wants more, restless and aching, though she tries to keep up a happy family front. You can see the strains in her façade, how much she’s trying to be happy and complacent even when she’s creasing and in knots. She needs time to...

Julie Delpy had a Göteborg crowd in stitches on Wednesday as she accepted theHonorary Dragon Award.

“I am filming it so that my son believes me,” she told the audience which welcomed her with a standing ovation.

As an actor, Delpy collaborated with the likes of Linklater, Kieślowski, Volker Schlöndorff and Agnieszka Holland. Her very first film, “Detective,” was directed by Jean-Luc Godard.

“It was really exciting to work with them. What’s happening?! I thought they were all going to come out now,” she said, startled by a technical glitch.

“I also did a few bad films, but nobody has ever prepared That list. Everyone has forgotten about them, because that’s what happens to bad films. Which is good.”

Eager to pursue directing from an early age, she quickly ran into a wall.

“I was born into a feminist family and raised with this idea that I’m 100% equal.

Babylon Berlin, a critically acclaimed German television series set during the Weimar Republic in late 1920s Berlin, has taken the world by storm.

The show follows Gereon Rath, a troubled police inspector transferred from Cologne to Berlin, as he navigates the capital's chaotic and decadent world.

The series masterfully intertwines historical events with fictional narratives, presenting a vivid picture of a society on the brink of upheaval.

In the fourth season, Gereon faces his greatest fears and personal challenges yet, including the complex dynamics of love and loyalty.

The season promises more intense political intrigue, personal turmoil, and the captivating blend of historical and fictional storytelling that has made Babylon Berlin a standout series.

Related: TV Shows Should Make Stars, Not Depend on Them

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Volker Bruch, the series' leading man, to discuss his experience and insights into playing Gereon Rath, the show's complex protagonist.

After Jonathan Glazer’s Cannes, Oscar and BAFTA-winning “The Zone of Interest,” Daniela Volker’s “The Commandant’s Shadow” tackles the same subject – what it was like to live next door to a WWII concentration camp.

While Glazer’s film was a work of fiction, based on Martin Amis’ novel, Volker’s film is a documentary. Exploring the legacy of Auschwitz, it follows Hans-Juergen Höss, son of commandant Rudolf Höss, and grandson Kai, on an emotional journey. Their path leads to a meeting with Holocaust survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, known as the ‘cellist from Auschwitz,’ and her daughter Maya. It features hitherto unseen archival footage and draws from Rudolf Höss’s autobiography, written shortly before his death.

“The Commandant’s Shadow,” produced by Gloria Abramoff from the London-based production company Creators Inc, in association with Snowstorm productions, played at Israel’s DocAviv festival where it won the Yad Vashem Award for outstanding Holocaust-related documentary.

Just over 60 miles from the Arctic Circle, in the northern climes of Iceland, lies the town of Akureyri. While it may be a bit hard to pronounce, Akureyri is fast becoming known as the Arctic Abbey Road. Iceland is quickly emerging as the leading supplier of musicians and the cutting-edge facilities that record them, with musical directors from Netflix to Disney flocking there. And Akureyri is the gleaming sonic gem in this crown of sound.

Amid this Nordic cacophony is a man known as Iceland’s George Martin – a producer and composer whose long tenure in Icelandic music (his band Todmobile just celebrated their 35th anniversary) has fast become legend to music directors and composers all over the world.

Thorvaldur Bjarni Thorvaldsson — or as he is affectionately known to classic composers and rockstars as simply “Tod” — is an unassuming man who can multitask and summon forth timpani players and charter...

This article contains all the spoilers for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

“I’m your goddamn partner!” When Marion Ravenwood shouted that declaration over the sounds of a burning bar and a Nepalese winter, she immediately cemented herself as the best companion for Indiana Jones. Sure, he’s been paired with other sidekicks, but none of them have lived up to the standard set by Marion. That is until Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Helena Shaw might seem like a second attempt at the Mutt Williams model from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Like Mutt, she sees Indy as a father figure. But with the aged Dr. Jones at a particularly low point, Helena has higher status in the movie, which works to bring out the best in a hero who’s more than long in the tooth.

Volker Schlöndorff, director of the Oscar and Palme d’Or winning The Tin Drum (adapted from Günter Grass’s novel Die Blechtrommel) with Anne-Katrin Titze on Jonathan Coe’s research on a Billy Wilder film for Mr. Wilder And Me: “I told him everything I knew about Fedora and the shooting of Fedora in Munich.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Jonathan Coe’s imaginative and savvy novel, Mr. Wilder & Me, which centres on the making of Billy Wilder’s penultimate movie, Fedora, seen through the lens of a fictional Greek composer named Calista, credits Volker Schlöndorff as an important source.

Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me (Europa Editions), collection Anne-Katrin Titze Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

I met Volker at the Austrian Cultural Forum’s Hedy Lamarr: Actress. Inventor. Viennese exhibition to discuss his role in the research for the novel, which led us into a wide-ranging conversation that included his documentary series Billy,...

Nearly four months after her sudden and shocking death, Charlbi Dean’scause of death has been revealed.

The South African model and actress — who made a splash in the Palm d’Or-winning “Triangle of Sadness” at this year’s Cannes Film Festival — died on Aug. 29, after a “sudden illness.”

On Wednesday, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to People that Dean died of bacterial sepsis and “a complication from asplenia,” meaning the absence of a spleen.

The sepsis was caused by the bacteria Capnocytophaga. According to the CDC, those with autoimmune issues and without spleens are particularly susceptible to the bacterial infection. Different species of Capnocytophaga can, rarely, exist in the mouths of humans, as well as in cats and dogs.

It’s unclear at this point how Dean was exposed to the bacteria, although more may become clear when the results of the autopsy are released in the future.

Charlbi Dean’s cause of death has now been revealed as bacterial sepsis.

The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner made the ruling on 21 December, four months after the actor passed away on 29 August at the age of 32.

A spokesperson told People that the sepsis “was a complication from asplenia” (the absence of a spleen) due to “remote blunt trauma to her torso”.

According to Dean’s brother, Alex Jacobs, the actor was involved in a car accident around 2009, which led to doctors removing her spleen.

Shortly after her death, Jacobs told Rolling Stone that Dean had been experiencing “minor” symptoms and asked her fiancé Luke Volker to take her to the emergency room. She died hours later.

Jacobs said: “This happened literally within the span of a day: getting a headache, going to sleep, waking up her boyfriend and saying please take me to the hospital.”

Dean...