As the reviews start coming through, take a look at some of the coverage of the 20th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival 2025:

Ultra Dogme

Archival Surprises: On the Re-Emergence of ‘Nujum an-Nahar’ in Film Historiography

by Najrin Islam

Stars in Broad Daylight • Ossama Mohammed • Syria • 1988 • UK Premiere

“While situated in this ecology of western film festivals, BFMAF’s politically conscious and eclectic curation over the years has positively influenced the visibility of previously overlooked archival films, thus amending their status as a cinema of the margins. So while the film remains inaccessible to its intended audiences in Syria, the screening of Nujum an-Nahar at BFMAF following its World Premiere at Ritrovato points to the work’s newfound legitimacy in the festival circuit, which may indeed redefine the traditional centres of western cinephilia.”

International Documentary Association

Berwick 2025: Round Here

by Cici Peng

Underground • Kaori Oda • Japan • 2024 • UK Premiere

“Berwick’s smallness is not a constraint, but a condition that allows something rare to take shape: a space where attention lingers, where dialogue doesn’t dissipate, where artists are compensated fairly, and where the body—on screen, in space, in relation—remains central.”

E-Flux Criticism

20th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival

by Daisy Hildyard

A Whore in the House of the Lord • Ayanna Dozier • United States • 2025 • World Premiere

“Amid all the violence that made itself apparent in this year’s program, something very different kept coming up: a delicate, ultra-close relationship with the human body’s barest gestures.”