59th Berlin International Film Festival

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]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference programme was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  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. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. 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. ^ Cite error: The named reference PRIZES was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  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.