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 Eden Is West served as the closing night film at the festival. The festival's jury president was the British actress Tilda Swinton.
Festival poster | |
| Opening film | The International |
|---|---|
| Closing film | Eden Is West |
| Location | Berlin, Germany |
| Founded | 1951 |
| Awards | Golden Bear: The Milk of Sorrow |
| No. of films | 383 films |
| Festival date | 5–15 February 2009 |
| Website | Website |
The Golden Bear was awarded to Peruvian film The Milk of Sorrow directed by Claudia Llosa. The retrospective dedicated to the Golden Age of 70mm filmmaking from 1955 to 1970, titled 70mm – 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.