59th Berlin International Film Festival
Festival poster
Opening filmThe International
Closing filmEden Is West
LocationBerlin, Germany
Founded1951
AwardsGolden Bear: The Milk of Sorrow
No. of films383 films[1]
Festival date5–15 February 2009
WebsiteWebsite
Berlin International Film Festival chronology

The 59th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 February to 15 February 2009.[2] The opening film of the festival was Tom Tykwer’s The International, screened out of competition.[3] Costa-Gavras's Eden Is West served as the closing night film at the festival.[4][5] The festival's jury president was the British actress Tilda Swinton.[6]

The Golden Bear was awarded to Peruvian film The Milk of Sorrow directed by Claudia Llosa.[7] The retrospective dedicated to the Golden Age of 70mm filmmaking from 1955 to 1970, titled 70mm – Bigger than Life was shown at the festival.[8]

Admission for the festival was reported to be among the highest in years, and it also set a record for ticket sales, with some 270,000 tickets sold by the halfway mark, compared to 240,000 sold for the entire run of the festival the previous year.[9] The final ticket tally was the largest in the festival’s 59-year history.[9]

Juries

Tilda Swinton, Jury President

The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:[10]

Main Competition

Best First Feature Award Jury

International Short Film Jury

Official Sections

Main Competition

The following films were selected in competition for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards:[1]

English title Original title Director(s) Production Country
About Elly درباره الی Asghar Farhadi Iran
Cheri Stephen Frears United Kingdom
Everyone Else Alle Anderen Maren Ade Germany
Forever Enthralled 梅蘭芳 Chen Kaige China
Giant Gigante Adrián Biniez Uruguay, Germany, Argentina
Happy Tears Mitchell Lichtenstein United States
In the Electric Mist Bertrand Tavernier
Katalin Varga Peter Strickland Romania, United Kingdom, Hungary
Little Soldier Annette K. Olesen Denmark
London River Rachid Bouchareb France, United Kingdom
Mammoth Mammut Lukas Moodysson Sweden, Germany, Denmark
The Messenger Oren Moverman United States
The Milk of Sorrow La Teta Asustada Claudia Llosa Peru
My One and Only Richard Loncraine United States
Rage Sally Potter United Kingdom, United States
Ricky François Ozon France, Italy
Storm Sturm Hans-Christian Schmid Germany, Denmark
Sweet Rush Tatarak Andrzej Wajda Poland

Out of Competition

The following films were selected for the out of competition screening at the festival:[1]

English title Original title Director(s) Production Country
Eden Is West (closing film) Eden à l'ouest Costa-Gavras France, Greece
The Dust of Time Η Σκόνη του Χρόνου Theo Angelopoulos Greece, Germany, Italy, Russia
Germany 09: 13 Short Films About the State of the Nation Deutschland 09 – 13 kurze Filme zur Lage der Nation Fatih Akin, Tom Tykwer, Wolfgang Becker, Sylke Enders, Dominik Graf, Romuald Karmakar, Nicolette Krebitz, Isabelle Stever, Hans Steinbichler, Hans Weingartner, Christoph Hochhäusler, Dani Levy and Angela Schanelec Germany
The International (opening film) Tom Tykwer United States
Notorious George Tillman Jr.
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee Rebecca Miller
The Reader The Reader Stephen Daldry United Kingdom, Germany

Official Awards

Claudia Llosa, winner of the Golden Bear at the festival

The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:[7][11]

Main Competition

References

  1. ^ a b c "PROGRAMME 2009". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  2. ^ "59TH BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FEBRUARY 5 - 15, 2009". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  3. ^ "59th Berlinale kicks off with The International on Barco's digital cinema projectors". barco.com. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  4. ^ "BERLINALE 2009 COMES TO A SUCCESSFUL CLOSE: A FANTASTIC ATMOSPHERE AND ENTHUSIASTIC AUDIENCES". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  5. ^ "'Milk of Sorrow' wins Golden Bear". variety.com. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  6. ^ Berlinale 2009: Academy Award–Winner Tilda Swinton will be Jury President
  7. ^ a b "PRIZES & HONOURS 2009". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  8. ^ "RETROSPECTIVE". Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  9. ^ a b Scott Roxborough (2009-02-11). "Berlinale to break sales record". The Hollywood Reporter.
  10. ^ "JURIES 2009". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  11. ^ "2009 Berlin Awards" (PDF). berlinale.de. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.

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