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 festi ...

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 film), Heaven'' (2002), ''Perfume: The St ...

’s '' The International'', screened out of competition.

Costa-Gavras Costa-Gavras (short for Konstantinos Gavras; el, Κωνσταντίνος Γαβράς; born 12 February 1933) is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for films with political and s ...

'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 to ...

of the United Kingdom. The

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

was awarded to Peruvian film ''

La Teta Asustada ''The Milk of Sorrow'' ( es, La Teta Asustada, The frightened teat) is a 2009 Peruvian-Spanish drama film by Peruvian director Claudia Llosa and co-produced by Peru and Spain. The film stars Magaly Solier and addresses the fears of abused women dur ...

'' 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 Gaston Kaboré (born 1951) is a Burkina Faso, Burkinabé film director and an important figure in Burkina Faso's film industry. He has won awards for his films ''Wend Kuuni'' and ''Buud Yam''. Biography Kaboré was born in 1951 in Bobo-Dioulasso ...

, director (Burkina Faso) *

Henning Mankell Henning Georg Mankell (; 3February 19485October 2015) was a Swedish crime writer, children's author, and dramatist, best known for a series of mystery novels starring his most noted creation, Inspector Kurt Wallander. He also wrote a number ...

, writer (Sweden) *

Christoph Schlingensief Christoph Maria Schlingensief (24 October 1960 – 21 August 2010) was a German theatre director, performance artist, and filmmaker. Starting as an independent underground filmmaker, Schlingensief later staged productions for theatres and festivals ...

, playwright and director (Germany) *

Wayne Wang Wayne Wang (; born January 12, 1949) is a Hong Kong Americans, Hong Kong–American Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter. Considered a pioneer of Asian-American cinema, he was one of the first Chinese Americans, ...

, director, screenwriter and producer (Hong Kong) *

Alice Waters Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 1971 she opened Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering Californi ...

(United States) Best First Feature Award Jury *

Hannah Herzsprung Hannah Herzsprung (; born 7 September 1981) is a German actress. Biography Hannah Herzsprung is the daughter of actor Bernd Herzsprung and fashion designer Barbara Engel. She debuted as an actress in 1997 in the BR series ''Aus heiterem Himmel ...

, actress (Germany) *

In-Ah Lee In-Ah Lee (born in Germany) is a German film producer based in Los Angeles, California, 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 ...

, 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 Eng ...

, director (Iran) International Short Film Jury * Khavn De La Cruz, director, screenwriter and producer (Philippines) * Arta Dobroshi, actress (Kosovo) * Lars Henrik Gass, director of the

International Short Film Festival Oberhausen The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, founded in 1954, is one of the oldest short film festivals in the world. Held in Oberhausen, it is one of the major international platforms for the short form. The festival holds an International C ...

(Germany)

In competition

The following films were selected in competition for the

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 (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

The

went to ''

La teta asustada ''The Milk of Sorrow'' ( es, La Teta Asustada, The frightened teat) is a 2009 Peruvian-Spanish drama film by Peruvian director Claudia Llosa and co-produced by Peru and Spain. The film stars Magaly Solier and addresses the fears of abused women dur ...

'' by

Silver Bears

*Jury Grand Prix (Grand Prize of the Jury): Adrián Biniez for '' Gigante'' and

Maren Ade Maren Ade (; born 12 December 1976) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer. Ade lives in Berlin, teaching screenwriting at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg. Together with Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach, she ...

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 Sotigui Kouyaté (19 July 1936 – 17 April 2010) was one of the first Malian, Burkinabé actors. He was the father of film director Dani Kouyaté, of the storyteller Hassane Kassi Kouyaté and of the actor Mabô Kouyaté and was a member of th ...

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 af ...

'' *Best Actress:

Birgit Minichmayr Birgit Minichmayr (born 3 April 1977) is an Austrian actress born in Linz, Austria. She studied drama at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. For her work in Maren Ade's film Everyone Else she won Silver Bear for Best Actress at 59th Berlin I ...

for ''Alle Anderen'' *Best Script:

Oren Moverman Oren Moverman ( he, אורן מוברמן; born July 4, 1966) is an Israeli-American Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, film director, and Emmy Award-winning film producer. He has directed the films ''The Messenger (2009 film), The Messenger ...

and Alessandro Camon for '' The Messenger'' *Outstanding Artistic Contribution (sound design): György Kovács, Gábor ifj. Erdélyi and Tamás Székely. for

Katalin Varga Katalin Varga ( hu, Varga Katalin ; August 22, 1802 - aft. 1852) was the leader of the Transylvanian Miners' Movement in the 1840s. Life Family and early life Varga was born into a family of impoverished nobility on August 22, 1802, in Halmág ...

Alfred Bauer Prize The Alfred Bauer Prize was an annual film award, presented by the Berlin International Film Festival, as part of its Silver Bear series of awards, to a film that "opens new perspectives on cinematic art". The prize was suspended in 2020 after it w ...

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'' and Adrián Biniez for ''Gigante'' *

FIPRESCI Award The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

for ''

References

External links

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

2009 in German cinema