The 59th

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

was held from 5 February to 15 February 2009. The opening film of the festival was

Tom Tykwer Tom Tykwer (; born 23 May 1965) is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films '' Run Lola Run'' (1998), ''Heaven'' (2002), '' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer' ...

’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 Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition t ...

of the United Kingdom. The Golden Bear was awarded to Peruvian film '' La Teta Asustada'' directed by

Claudia Llosa Claudia Llosa Bueno (born 15 November 1976) is a Peruvian film director, writer, producer, and author. She is recognized for her Academy-Award-nominated film '' The Milk of Sorrow''. Early life Claudia Llosa was born on November 15, 1976 in L ...

. 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

Tilda Swinton (Berlin Film Festival 2010) cropped

The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival: International jury *

, actress (United Kingdom) - Jury President *

Isabel Coixet Isabel Coixet Castillo (; born 9 April 1960 ) is a Spanish film director. She is one of the most prolific film directors of contemporary Spain, having directed twelve feature-length films since the beginning of her film career in 1988, in additio ...

, director and screenwriter (Spain) * Gaston Kaboré, director (Burkina Faso) * Henning Mankell, writer (Sweden) * Christoph Schlingensief, playwright and director (Germany) * Wayne Wang, director, screenwriter and producer (Hong Kong) * Alice Waters (United States) Best First Feature Award Jury * Hannah Herzsprung, actress (Germany) *

In-Ah Lee In-Ah Lee (born in Germany) is a German film producer based in Los Angeles, California. Prior to establishing LeeLee Films with writer/director Grace Lee, In-Ah Lee was head of production at the German-based Reverse Angle Production owned by ...

, producer (Germany) *

Rafi Pitts Rafi Pitts ( fa, رفیع پیتز, born 1967) is an Iranian film director. Life and career Pitts was born in Mashad, Iran. Rafi spent his childhood in Tehran, where he lived in a basement flat underneath a post-production studio. He came to En ...

, director (Iran) International Short Film Jury *

Khavn De La Cruz Khavn De La Cruz (also known as KHAVN) is a Filipino poet, singer, songwriter, pianist and filmmaker. He is the founder and festival director of MOV International Film, Music and Literature Festival. Considered the father of Philippine digital ...

, director, screenwriter and producer (Philippines) *

Arta Dobroshi Arta Dobroshi (born 2 October 1980) is a Kosovo-Albanian actress and producer. Dobroshi is the first Kosovan actress to walk the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival and b ...

, actress (Kosovo) *

Lars Henrik Gass Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel". A homonymous Etruscan name was bor ...

, director of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (Germany)

In competition

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

Out of competition screening

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

Key

Awards

The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:

Golden Bear

The Golden Bear went to '' La teta asustada'' by

Silver Bears

*Jury Grand Prix (Grand Prize of the Jury):

Adrián Biniez Adrian is a form of the Latin language, Latin given name Adrianus (given name), Adrianus or Hadrianus (disambiguation), Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria (river), Adria from the Venetic language, Venetic and ...

for '' Gigante'' and Maren Ade for '' Alle Anderen'' *Best Director:

Asghar Farhadi Asghar Farhadi ( fa, اصغر فرهادی, ; born 7 May 1972)Soureh Movie Database

for '' Darbereye Elly'' *Best Actor: Sotigui Kouyaté for ''

London River ''London River'' is a 2009 British-French drama film, written and produced by Franco-Algerian film director Rachid Bouchareb. Starring Brenda Blethyn and Sotigui Kouyaté, it centres on the journey of two people searching for their children aft ...

'' *Best Actress: Birgit Minichmayr for ''Alle Anderen'' *Best Script: Oren Moverman and

Alessandro Camon Alessandro Camon (born 7 June 1963) is an Academy Award nominated screenwriter and film producer. Life and career Born in Padua, Italy, he currently lives in Los Angeles. Camon is a graduate of the University of Padua, School of Philosophy, an ...

for '' The Messenger'' *Outstanding Artistic Contribution (sound design):

György Kovács György () is a Hungarian version of the name ''George''. Some notable people with this given name: * György Alexits, as a Hungarian mathematician * György Almásy, Hungarian asiologist, traveler, zoologist and ethnographer, father of Lászl� ...

, Gábor ifj. Erdélyi and

Tamás Székely Tamás Székely (29 April 1923 – before 2007) was a Hungarian alpine skier. He competed in three events at the 1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiel ...

. for Katalin Varga * Alfred Bauer Prize:

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the ...

for ''

Tatarak ''Sweet Rush'' (Polish: ''Tatarak'') is a 2009 Polish drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda. The film won the Alfred Bauer Prize (in tie with '' Giant'') at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival in 2009. The film is based on a small-town in ...

'' and

for ''Gigante'' * FIPRESCI Award:

for '' La teta asustada''

References

External links

Yearbook 2009 at berlinale.de59th Berlin International Film Festival 2009
{{Authority control 59 2009 in Berlin

2009 in German cinema