10 Berlinale favorites for the top awards

Dealing with the scars of China's one-child policy and its Cultural Revolution, which saw countless people imprisoned, tortured and executed, Chinese director Wang Xiashuai's three-hour drama depicts the country's political upheaval through two families over three decades. A work of historical importance, it is likely to be recognized by the Berlinale jury.

An ex-Israeli soldier rejects his national identity as he moves to Paris: One could expect just another take on the cliched expat genre from this one-line description of "Synonyms." But Israeli director Nadav Lapid surprised critics with this uncategorizable work that's driven by actor Tom Mercier's explosive presence. "Astonishing, maddening, brilliant," wrote Indiewire.

Long static shots, deadpan dialogues and disorientating ellipses: Angela Schanelec's entry is one of the most divisive works of the competition. The German press and hardcore cinephiles are absolutely ecstatic about this elegant Berlin School work, but many others found "I Was at Home, But" unnecessarily pretentious.

It's the only Competition film with an untranslated title: "Ondog" refers to a fossilized dinosaur egg. A herdswoman falls pregnant from a much younger police officer after they spend a night guarding a crime scene together. The story set in the Mongolian plain is based on true stories, yet this art house piece by Chinese director Wang Quan'an is definitely an eccentric cinematic experience.

Described by the Hollywood Reporter as "a unique work that deftly blends Chekhov and the Brothers Grimm," this tale by Turkish auteur Emin Alper portrays the plight of three sisters in a remote Anatolian village. Critics are divided: While it's a leading title on Screen International's jury grid, Variety magazine dismissed it as an "ultimately uninteresting drama."

Macedonian filmmaker Teona Strugar Mitevska offers a Balkan satire about the predominance of religion and macho culture in her home country. It's a film with popular appeal, and it scored relatively well on the Screen jury grid. Zorica Nusheva's performance in the title role garnered particular praise.

Affected by a fatal car crash, a small isolated Quebec village is further unsettled as the dead start reappearing. Canadian auteur Denis Cote offers a minimalist, mournful tale shot on grainy 16 mm film. Some critics dismissed it as a trivial art house piece, but as it touches on the fear of the other, the weight of the past and vanishing rural communities, others found it eerily powerful.

Francois Ozon portrays in "By the Grace of God" an association of victims that took action against the attempted cover-up of a Catholic priest's years of sexual abuse. Described as the French take on "Spotlight" and directed in a classic yet masterful style, it's a highly topical film, whose conclusion remains to be written in real life, as the trial of Lyon's Cardinal Barbarin is still ongoing.

Screened early in the Competition, the German filmmaker's feature debut pleased the country's press but failed to convince international critics. It centers on an aggressive, traumatized 9-year-old who defies the child welfare system. However, everyone agreed that the young actress in the lead role, Helena Zengel, offered a deeply impressive performance.

Gareth Jones was a Welsh reporter who exposed Stalin's famine that killed millions of Ukrainians. His heroic story is revisited in "Mr. Jones," one of the rare feature films to deal with this neglected chapter of history. The film also reflects on freedom of the press. Various critics were disappointed, however, by the unnecessary side stories in the work by Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland.