- Women ride Pakistan's economic crisis into the workplace
- Wallabies 'fell of cliff' in loss to Pumas, says coach Schmidt
- Child abuse scandals hang over pope's East Timor visit
- Biden team, end in sight, keeps hope on Gaza truce despite setbacks
- Sabalenka dedicates US Open to family 'who never gave up' on dream
- Venezuela takes diplomatic jab at Brazil in spat over election
- Multiple people shot along highway in US state of Kentucky
- In Papua New Guinea, Pope holds mass 'at the edge of the world'
- Hewett stays positive for wheelchair tennis despite agonising defeat
- Three things on US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka
- Sabalenka downs Pegula to win US Open thriller
- USA slump to first home defeat against Canada in 67 years
- Argentina hand Australia record 67-27 loss in Rugby Championship
- England impress on Carsley bow, Germany, Dutch hit five
- AFP photographer wins top prize for Gaza coverage
- No Love for Packers for three weeks after ligament sprain: reports
- Pedro Almodovar: chronicler of modern Spain crowned in Venice
- Trump sounds dark tone at rally, Harris 'ready' for debate
- Wirtz and Musiala dazzle to kick-start new Germany era
- Chinese teenager takes 7th gold of Paris Paralympics
- England interim boss Carsley 'respects' divided opinions over anthem
- Neuville moves to the front in the Acropolis Rally
- Garfield, Pugh charm Toronto in new romance 'We Live in Time'
- 21 boys confirmed dead in Kenya school inferno
- Over 100,000 protest in France against new prime minister
- Golden 30 minutes takes China to swimming Paralympics swimming domination
- Green leads Australia to T20 series sweep of Scotland
- Nigeria, Cameroon win afer chaotic AFCON build-ups
- Nicole Kidman: A-lister, cinematic chameleon, wins in Venice
- 'I had to prove myself', says Kolisi after win against All Blacks
- Almodovar wins top prize at Venice film festival
- Grealish savours England redemption after 'worst summer'
- Carsley makes flying start as England interim boss in win over Ireland
- Springboks close on Rugby Championship with storming win over All Blacks
- Sri Lanka's De Silva and Kamindu Mendis defy England in third Test
- Farrell's Racing lose on opening day of Top 14
- Dunbar takes second Vuelta stage as Roglic closes in on victory
- Fritz eyes US Open glory to end 21 years of American hurt
- Thousands protest in France against new prime minister
- Trump to hold rally in swing state, Harris preps for debate
- Stone at the double as Sri Lanka collapse against England in third Test
- French tennis player takes legal action over online abuse
- Italy backs Kyiv's 'legitimate defence' as Zelensky presses allies
- The Body Shop rescued from administration after deal
- Smoke and screams: The horror of Kenya's school dorm inferno
- MotoGP leader Martin roars to victory in San Marino sprint
- Ireland and UK to 'reset' relations as Starmer begins Dublin visit
- Ma Lin turns brutal encounter with bear into glorious Paralympic career
- Flintoff appointed England Lions head coach
- Sri Lanka hit back as Pope falls during England collapse in second Test
Love in the time of corona in focus at Berlin fest
The Berlin film festival has delivered on a promise of "crazy, intoxicating" love stories at its 72nd edition, with diverse movies exploring infatuation and loss around the pandemic-racked world.
In time for Valentine's Day, Europe's first major cinema showcase of the year has rolled out a programme telling the kind of intimate tales perfectly suited to lockdown-era filmmaking.
Acclaimed French director Claire Denis unveiled "Both Sides of the Blade", a powerful drama about mature romance and sudden betrayal starring Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon of last year's Cannes winner "Titane".
The two play Sara and Jean, a Parisian couple who become ensnared in a love triangle when her former boyfriend resurfaces as Jean's new business partner.
Although Sara and Jean still share deep love and an active sex life, she starts to find his presence suffocating -- not least while cooped up due to Covid -- and begins meeting her ex for secret trysts.
"When you are yourself torn between a past and a present or between two loves, this impossibility to go back once desire is set in motion -- that's a complex situation," Binoche told AFP.
"There is no right or wrong solution... you just have to get through it as dignified and honestly as possible."
- Shedding 'shame' -
Younger men awakening passion in older women takes centre stage in "A E I O U - A Quick Alphabet of Love", starring Austrian theatre star Sophie Rois, and "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande" with Emma Thompson.
While Rois tutors a purse snatcher who ends up seducing her during diction lessons in her flat, Thompson's widow character seeks instruction from a charming sex worker, having never had an orgasm in her long marriage.
The British actress said the comedy, which was rapturously received at its live premiere after screening online at Sundance last month, felt radical because it showed an ageing woman shedding "shame" about her body.
"I don't think that female pleasure's ever been at the top of the list of things that the world wants to make sure (women) have," she told reporters.
"I think if you went into the British countryside and the German countryside and the French countryside and asked all the old ladies who were sitting on their stoops in the sun, 'How many orgasms have you had?' you'd be surprised."
In one of the festival's highlight performances, French actor Denis Menochet in "Peter von Kant" plays a successful director waylaid by his passion for a capricious young actor.
Director Francois Ozon said the performance worked because Menochet showed the humbling nature of love.
"I was trying to bring out the suffering of Peter von Kant –- he's not very lovable until you see him suffering."
- 'Against the odds' -
Tragic loss has also preoccupied many of the world's directors during the pandemic, with the tender Chinese drama "Return to Dust" and "A Piece of Sky", set in majestic Alpine vistas, moving Berlin audiences to tears.
Chinese director Li Ruijun, 39, tells the tale of Cao, the timid fourth son of a rural family, and the disabled Ma, who are cast off by their clans and pushed into an arranged marriage.
Despite their isolation and grinding poverty in remote Gansu Province, an unexpected love blossoms between them.
Li, unable to attend the festival due to coronavirus restrictions, wrote that he wanted to tell a story of "eternal love, against the odds".
"A Piece of Sky" shows a young waitress and a farmhand who stay devoted to each other even as his personality changes drastically due to a brain tumour.
Their battle with illness plays out against the backdrop of stunning mountain landscapes, something Swiss director Michael Koch said reminded people that much in life is beyond their control.
"From time to time nature reveals its destructive potential and anyone who grows up in the mountains has an awareness that in the end nature is always stronger than you," Koch, also 39, told AFP.
He said love, too, had a way of reminding people of their powerlessness.
"Love is bigger than you and if you have it, it's so strong that doesn't matter what happens, it will remain."
M.Carneiro--PC