Afire

Another Christian Petzold film, another Berlinale award winning banger. His is a steady history of home town wins at the revered German festival, starting as far back as 2003’s Wolfsburg, with Barbara (2012) and Undine (2020) also winning major awards, establishing a strong history that this year’s Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize for Afire continues. Unarguably one of the country’s strongest filmmakers working today, Afire reveals Petzold as someone who is comfortably at the top of their game. It’s a film so technically tight and made with such integrity and precision that it’s a struggle to keep one’s jaw from dropping; it’s an absolute delight to watch.