Modern artworks whose style, artist or subject did not meet with the approval of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists were labeled "degenerate art." From 1937, the Nazis confiscated such works from German museums. In a traveling exhibition, "degenerate art" was held up for public ridicule. Here we see Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and Hitler at the original exhibition in Munich.

Hitler had an affinity for Romanticism and 19th century painting and preferred peaceful country scenes. His private collection included works by Cranach, Tintoretto and Bordone. Like his role models Ludwig I. of Bavaria and Frederick the Great, Hitler wanted to manage his own art exhibition at retirement, to be shown in the city of Linz on the River Danube in the "Führer Museum."

The National Socialists were not the first to persecute avant-garde artists, but they took it a step further by banning their works from museums. In 1937, the authorities had over 20,000 art works removed from 101 state-owned German museums. Anything that the Nazis didn't consider edifying to the German people was carted off.

Abstract art had no place in Hitler's "national style," as grew clear when the "Great German Art Exhibition" put traditional landscape, historical and nude paintings by artists including Fritz Erler, Hermann Gradl and Franz Xaver Stahl on display in Munich on July 18, 1937. The closer the depicted subject to the actual model was, the more beautiful it was in the eyes of the Führer.

Even those in Hitler's inner circle were highly unsure which artists he approved of. The 1937 "Great German Art Exhibition" and the simultaneous "Degerate Art" exhibition in Munich's Court Garden Arcades brought some clarity. Unwelcome were creative artists of the modern period including Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Max Pechstein.

In the "Degerate Art" exhibition, 650 confiscated artworks from 32 German museums were on display, the exhibits equated with sketches by mentally handicapped persons and shown together with photos of crippled persons. The intention: to provoke revulsion and aversion among visitors. Over two million visitors saw the exhibition on its tour of various cities.

The "Degenerate Artworks Confiscation Law" of May 31, 1938 retroactively legalized their unremunerated acquisition by the state. The law remained valid in the postwar years, the allies determining that it had simply been a redistribution of state property. Unlike stolen artworks, pieces that the Nazis labled "degenerate" and had removed from museums can be freely traded today.

The confiscated art was taken to storage facilities in Berlin and at Schönhausen Palace. Many works were sold by Hitler's four art merchants: Bernhard A. Böhmer, Karl Buchholz, Hildebrand Gurlitt and Ferdinand Möller. On March 20, 1939 the Berlin fire department burned approximately 5,000 unsold artifacts, calling it an "exercise."

125 works were earmarked for an auction in Switzerland. A commission charged by Hermann Göring and others with liquefying the "degenerate" art products estimated the minimum bidding prices and commissioned the Fischer Gallery in Lucerne to carry out the auction. Taking place on June 30, 1939, it met with eager interest worldwide.

Over 21,000 works of "degenerate art" were confiscated. Estimates on the number subsequently sold differ; sources estimate 6,000 to 10,000. Others were destroyed or disappeared. Hundreds of artworks believed lost turned up in Cornelius Gurlitt's collection — and reignited the discussion.

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof's anthology film brings together four short stories dealing with individual freedom and the death penalty. Acts of resistance in the film reflect Rasoulof's own decision to defy Iran's authorities, who've banned him from filmmaking, confiscated his passport and sentenced him to prison. The powerful work is crowned with the Berlinale's top award, the Golden Bear.

Eliza Hittman directed a brilliant portrait of two teens from rural Pennsylvania who travel to New York City to seek out medical help to end an unplanned pregnancy. In the role of Autumn, Sidney Flanigan (photo) displays a range of understated emotions. The hard-hitting abortion drama wins the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize.

Alongside Bong Joon-ho of "Parasite" fame, Hong Sangsoo is one of the most revered filmmakers of South Korea. In the director's minimalist style characterized by lots of dialogue and zooms, "The Woman Who Ran" is a sensitive and humorous study of a woman's journey of self-discovery as she encounters three friends.

According to a German myth that's influenced countless works, Undine is a mesmerizing water spirit. This translates into wondrous aquatic scenes in Christian Petzold's film. Portrayed by Paula Beer, the title character is the most informative museum guide in Berlin, but also a dangerous woman to fall in love with... Beer's ghostly performance is definitely worthy of a Silver Bear.

Italian painter Antonio Ligabue was one the most important naive artists of the 20th century. The film "Hidden Away" portrays the man's difficult life affected by mental illness. Elio Germano is completely transformed in this very physical role, earning him the Silver Bear for best actor.

Recognized with a Silver Bear for their screenplay, brothers Fabio and Damiano D'Innocenzo were also the directors of this dark and unnerving fairy tale set in a sterile residential estate in the suburbs of Rome. Incidentally, actor Elio Germano also stars in this other prize-worthy film from Italy.

The controversial production of Ilya Khrzhanovsky's "DAU. Natasha" has made many headlines. German cinematographer Jürgen Jürges, legendary for his work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, also had to deal with his own set of challenges for the epic project, filming in a semi-documentary style with a single camera as the film's participants "lived their lives." The jury recognized his exceptional work.

Many films competing at the Berlin film fest were dark, but this satire by French directors Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern was absolutely hilarious. Portraying three friends who decide to fight against tech giants, "Delete History" comments on the absurdities of the digital age. The film was recognized with a special Silver Bear for the 70th anniversary of the Berlinale.

The Berlinale Documentary Award goes to Cambodian documentary film director Rithy Panh, whose work "Irradiated" was featured in the competition section. The meditative essay against historical forgetting mainly features a montage of archival footage of war in the 20th century.