Land of Silence and Darkness

Victor Kossakovsky’s film essay looks at the way we have constructed our built world through a series of breathtaking sequences.

A hypnotic tour of a New York hotel that proves that nighttime is Akerman time.

Akerman’s introspective apartment-bound reflection on isolation and confinement.

A celebration of Akerman’s longtime collaborator, cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton, showing her artistry as she plays and discusses her life in music.

Made over 20 years ago, this exploration of the lives of Mexican migrants and the cruelties of borders makes for equally urgent viewing today.

A study of the troubled, racist history of the American South and its legacy.

Fassbinder's visual and verbal extravaganza about a successful but lonely fashion designer who falls in love with a beautiful younger woman.

Fires rage around a pompous novelist and his awkward desires in Christian Petzold’s sharp comedy drama.

A teacher’s life unravels when one of her students is accused of stealing in this arresting, Oscar-nominated thriller.

Taxi zum Klo is a refreshingly guilt-free gay movie from West Germany about a promiscuous teacher, played by director Frank Ripploh.

The spirits of Lynch, Lang and Hitchcock haunt this cold war mystery-thriller with an awesome Alpine backdrop.

After his mother wakes from a coma in 1990, a young man goes to great lengths to pretend East Germany still exists in this wonderfully bittersweet tragicomedy.

An 18th-century Bavarian community falls apart when the local glassmaker dies, in Werner Herzog's mesmerising drama for which he famously directed his actors under hypnosis.

One of Werner Herzog's most acclaimed and audacious films, Fitzcarraldo tells the incredible story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an opera-loving fortune hunter who dreams of bringing opera to the heart of the Peruvian jungle.

Werner Herzog’s poetic account of the historical character who captivated 19th-century Nuremberg after emerging from isolation after 16 years in a cellar.

This early masterpiece from Werner Herzog stars Klaus Kinski as a power-crazed explorer in sixteenth-century South America who leads a band of conquistadors through the Amazon in search of El Dorado.

Werner Herzog’s moving portrait of a record-breaking ski jumper.

English language version of Herzog’s stimulating take on the Dracula story starring Klaus Kinski, with echoes of Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu.

A seductive neo-noir and cult classic centring on lesbian desire in dangerous circumstances.

The messiness of sex, the mysteries of birth and the moving spectacle of devoted parenting in the face of impending oblivion create a potent atmosphere in Claire Denis’ English-language debut.

A troubled young sheep farmer falls for a hired hand in this stunning debut from Francis Lee.

Soulful docufiction featuring real-life porn actor Lalo Santos.

Alejandro González Iñárritu's (Birdman, The Revenant) gripping debut feature is a savagely brilliant triptych around the theme of animalistic desires.

Matt Dillon and his not-so-merry band of junkies rob pharmacies and cheat death.