Director Alonso Ruizpalacios dug deep into his past to make "La Cocina", a frenetic look at the lives, loves and chaos surrounding the migrants who work in a restaurant on New York City's Times Square.

The Mexican-US drama, one of 20 films competing for the festival's Golden Bear top prize, was, he said, designed to show the fate of migrants, who, far from reaching a promised land after long and perilous journeys, often continued to live in a state of suspension.

The film documents, in a washed-out black-and-white that makes sumptuous delicacies look like ash, the story of a single midday service.

A 10-minute shot, filmed over a week, tracks the intricate dance of cooks and servers, Mexican, Moroccan, Ecuadorian and even American, as, laughing and rowing in a dozen languages, they turn chaos into lunch.