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This week at the kino: New Wave, Polanski and Birds Of Prey

Catch two French offerings this week, "Varda By Agnès" celebrating the life of the New Wave icon, and Polanski's "J’Accuse". Plus DC's "Birds Of Prey", Final Girls, EXBlicks, an Oscar recap, and more happening in the Berlin film world this week.

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Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Catch Birds Of Prey And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn in Berlin cinemas now!

It’s another busy week for new releases, with something for everyone. 

The flashiest newbie is DC’s Birds Of Prey And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn, which is a flawed but perfectly fun watch that sees Margot Robbie triumphantly return as comic book antiheroine Harley Quinn. Elsewhere, there are two French films vying for your attention this week: Varda By Agnès, a wonderful doc which celebrates the life of a true cinematic icon, and the new Polanski film, J’Accuse (An Officer And A Spy). Some might be put off by the continuing accusations held against the controversial director, but when judging the film on its individual merits, it’s an engrossing historical drama which follows the famous 1890 Dreyfus affair. If those don’t appeal, try 21 Bridges, a stylish cop thriller throwback that makes up for its lack of originality with gusto to spare, or The Lodge, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala Goodnight Mommy follow-up which divided us – PRO or CON, we’ll let you decide.

Final Girls Berlin Film Festival’s fifth edition starts today (Feb 6 through Feb 9 at City Kino Wedding). Dedicated to horror films made by women and non-binary directors, scriptwriters and producers, the festival will satisfy all your horror needs. Check out our full preview for our top tips. Also make sure to read up on this year’s Berlinale, with our introduction to the upcoming festival’s 70th edition. 

And don’t forget to join us on Tuesday, February 11, for our monthly EXBlicks at Lichtblick Kino (20:00) – we’re screening Coal Country Song. Gundermann, a documentary about Gerhard Gundermann and how the coal mining country he grew up in was a huge influence on his work. The film will be followed by a Q&A with the director and former head of Dok Leipzig Grit Lemke.

One last thing – it’s the Oscars on Sunday, so if you need a cheeky reminder of what we thought about this year’s main contenders, check out our reviews of the Oscar hopefuls, as well as our interviews with Oscar-nominated directors: 

*INTERVIEW: Jojo Rabbit’s Taika Waititi: “It’s the least authentic portrayal of Hitler you’ll ever find!”

*INTERVIEW: Joker’s Todd Phillips: “We pushed to come up with something totally insane”

*INTERVIEW: Les Misérables’ Ladj Ly: “The film is a cry of alarm”

*Parasite

*1917

*Little Women

*Joker

*Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

*Jojo Rabbit

*The Irishman

*Ford V Ferrari