Madonna‘s debut film as a director, Filth and Wisdom, made its debut at the Berlin Film Festival this week. Though several critics claimed her directorial debut was a substantial improvement over her recent work as an actress, it received many negative reviews, with critics calling it “dumb and tacky,” “amateurish,” and “a turkey.” The review in the British paper The Guardian said: “Madonna has been a terrible actor in many, many films and now — fiercely aspirational as ever — she has graduated to being a terrible director.” The 81-minute film tells the story of a Ukrainian immigrant in London who finances his dreams of becoming a rock star by moonlighting as a cross-dressing dominatrix. Madonna also co-wrote the script. She revealed at a press conference that although she enjoyed the experience, she missed performing, saying: “I do love directing and the experience of it. But that was the one little tiny thing that was missing — that visceral release that you don’t have if you’re not performing. So it was an adjustment for me to work from my neck up.”