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Reel diversity in Berlin
RITA DI SANTO reports on a bumper crop of screenings at the annual film festival in the German capital

Chinese director Diao Yinan's Black Coal, Thin Ice was a popular choice as winner of the Golden Bear award for best film at this year's Berlin film festival.

His third feature (pictured) is drained of colour and makes striking allusions to film noir thrillers as do his choice of protagonists, an ex-police officer and a femme fatale.

But Yinan's film also invites us into the lives of "ordinary" people who lead extraordinary lives in the northern China of 1999.

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