59th Berlin International Film Festival


The 59th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 February to 15 February 2009. The opening film of the festival was Tom Tykwer’s The International, screened out of competition. Costa-Gavras's immigrant drama Eden Is West served as the closing night film at the festival. The festival's jury president was actress Tilda Swinton of the United Kingdom.
The Golden Bear was awarded to Peruvian film La Teta Asustada directed by Claudia Llosa. The retrospective dedicated to the Golden Age of 70mm filmmaking from 1955 to 1970, titled 70 mm – Bigger than Life was shown at the festival.
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. The final ticket tally was the largest in the festival’s 59-year history.

Jury

The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:
International jury
Best First Feature Award Jury
International Short Film Jury
The following films were selected in competition for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards:
English titleOriginal titleDirectorCountry
Everyone ElseAlle AnderenMaren AdeGermany
CheriCheriStephen FrearsUK
About EllyDarbareye EllyAsghar FarhadiIran
GiantGiganteAdrián BiniezUruguay, Germany, Argentina
Happy TearsHappy TearsMitchell LichtensteinUnited States
In the Electric MistIn the Electric MistBertrand TavernierUnited States
Katalin VargaPeter StricklandRomania, United Kingdom, Hungary
Little SoldierAnnette K. OlesenDenmark
Forever EnthralledMei LanfangChen KaigeChina
The MessengerThe MessengerOren MovermanUnited States
London RiverRachid BoucharebAlgeria, France, UK
MammothLukas MoodyssonSweden, Germany, Denmark
My One and OnlyMy One and OnlyRichard LoncraineUnited States
RageRageSally PotterUK, United States
RickyFrançois OzonFrance, Italy
StormSturmHans-Christian SchmidGermany, Denmark
Sweet RushTatarakAndrzej WajdaPoland
The Milk of SorrowLa Teta AsustadaClaudia LlosaPeru

Out of competition screening

The following films were selected for the out of competition screening at the festival:
English titleOriginal titleDirectorCountry
compilation film by 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 SchanelecGermany
Eden Is WestEden à l'ouestCosta-GavrasFrance, Greece, Italy
The Dust of TimeTheo AngelopoulosGreece, Germany, Italy, Russia
The InternationalThe InternationalTom TykwerUSA
The Private Lives of Pippa LeeThe Private Lives of Pippa LeeRebecca MillerUSA
The ReaderThe ReaderStephen DaldryUK, Germany
NotoriousNotoriousGeorge Tillman Jr.USA

Key

Awards

The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:

[Golden Bear]

The Golden Bear went to La teta asustada by Claudia Llosa.

Silver Bears