"In their own stubborn, self-assured, sometimes eccentric and always norm-defying ways – these female film pioneers led active, sometimes successful, sometimes frustrating lives at the center (or at the fringes) of the new art and industry. What these women had in common was pluck, nerve, and persistence. Although much is already known about the lives of the famous actresses of the day, whose iconic presence and lingering fan-following make them easier to remember or visualize as active participants of cinema, women were also active in other creative fields. They were writers, title-writers, story editors, set dressers, choreographers, costume designers, directors, film editors, amateur filmmakers, dancers, critics, producers, even camera-operators (if only a few)."

Anke Brouwers on Mary Manning, Nell Shipman and Helen Gardner, just a few of the many women film pioneers that have been written out of cinema history.

Maximilien Proctor reports on this year's Berlinale, honing in on films, moments or connections that struck a chord.

On Lav Diaz's Hele sa hiwagang hapis: "In one sense, the film may be viewed as an exercise in ‘letting go’ of a traditional concept of time. Injustice and cruelty are as old as time itself. In order to overcome them, we have to be willing to both accept the past has happened and recognize its continuing influence on the present. We must let go of our preoccupations with systematically organizing time, so that we might experience it."

Maximilien Proctor is reporting from this year's Berlinale, honing in on films, moments or connections that strike a chord.

On Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special: "Slowly and without warning, the shot lifts up from off of the road and soars above the tree-line. From this new and elevated vantage point, the image of an empty street is replaced by a sky populated by helicopters. The literal content speaks to the military trouble our characters face, but the metaphor is for a human interest in ascending to transcendence."