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Festival coverage

Berlin International Film Festival

2009

Clive Owen in The International
Clive Owen in The International

The Berlin Film Festival celebrated its 59th edition in 2009 - and opened with the world premiere of banking thriller, The International. It ran from February 5 to 15.

Films in the festival's Competition section vie for the Golden and Silver Bear Awards, where elsewhere there are sections dedicated to arthouse film, movies aimed at younger viewers, experimental work, the latest in home-grown talent and short film. The Festival is rounded out by a Retrospective - for classic "rediscovery" and a Homage which "focuses on the lifework of a great cinema personality".

In 2009, the Berlinale Special focused on Culinary Cinema, which opened with Food, Inc - a documentary shining the spotlight on the food industry.

Other years (15)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Ben-Hur
    Review preview for Ben-Hur

    The film uses an unusually wide aspect ratio: 2.76:1, which accentuates the stillness of the fleets approaching before the screen erupts in the chaos of battle.

    Donald Munro · 2.5 out of 5
    A Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, but it's not long before he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
  • West Side Story
    Review preview for West Side Story

    It still does things that surprise.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    Musical transposes the story of Romeo and Juliet to the gang-ridden streets of New York.
  • 575 Castro St
    Review preview for 575 Castro St

    There's a mood of eerie melancholy as Milk lays out the reasons why he might become a target for someone who is "insecure, terrified, afraid" - a concept that has lost none of its resonance with campaigners in many fields of equal rights in the years that have passed since.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A light and motion study accompanying a tape recording by Harvey Milk to be played "in the event of my death by assassination".
  • Playtime
    Review preview for Playtime

    There are moments of brilliance but also points where Tati simply lays on everything too thick.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Monsieur Hulot becomes caught up in an American tourist invasion of Paris.
  • Cleopatra
    Review preview for Cleopatra

    Few actors have ever come to embody a historical figure in such a powerful way.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    An epic based on the life of the legendary queen.
  • All Around Us
    Review preview for All Around Us

    While the pace may seem slow at times, the deliberate and considered consumption of all the little details that make up the couple’s life results in a more than satisfying pay-off towards the end.

    Robert Munro · 4 out of 5
    Witty drama about eight years in a marriage.
  • Sweetgrass
    Review preview for Sweetgrass

    It plunges you right into a Midwest midwinter, where wind and snow scour a starkly beautiful landscape and a built-in woolly jumper is a prerequisite for survival.

    Jeff Robson · 3.5 out of 5
    A year in the life of a flock of sheep and the people who tend to them.
  • Skirt Day
    Review preview for Skirt Day

    A stark political satire, exposing all the divisions and frictions – social, sexual, racial, cultural and religious – of a modern multi-cultural France.

    Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
    A teacher accidentally takes her class hostage.
  • When You're Strange
    Review preview for When You're Strange

    Seamlessly balances the scenes that made the band infamous, with the intimate moments and the atmosphere of an era.

    Daniel Hooper · 4 out of 5
    Documentary tracking the rise of The Doors, featuring rare footage of the band and Jim Morrison.
  • Bellamy
    Review preview for Bellamy

    Though well executed, there isn’t a great deal to elevate the story beyond a solid genre piece.

    Adam Micklethwaite · 3 out of 5
    A detective enjoying a quiet holiday in southern France finds himself caught up in an intriguing mystery.

A–Z of Berlin International Film Festival 2009 reviews

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