Those films also star Hawke, along with French actress Julie Delpy.

A career transformed

4 Chinese films to be screened at Toronto film festival

But he goes further with Boyhood, where the passage of time is the only force driving the narrative forward, as the characters grow up before the viewers' eyes.

Mason, the son, comes of age at the same time as the actor who plays him, Ellar Coltrane, who was 7 years old when filming started, and 19 by the end.

His sister Samantha is played by Lorelei Linklater, the director's own daughter. The movie depicts the characters' marriages, separations, new friends, joys, traumas and first loves, ending with Coltrane starting college.

Arquette says the film works above all because "there's a very human element, and it's not about manipulation".

Linklater "didn't do what you are supposed to do in an entertainment movie", she says.

"His interest is in really deeper relationships, communication, honesty, discovery and time."

Since its first outing at the Sundance Film Festival in January, Boyhood has won multiple awards. The Berlinale gave Linklater a Silver Bear for best director in February.