Its function is to honour great cinema personalities by showing their films and to immerse audiences in cinematic history by screening film classics. Films which deserve special attention due to current events can also be shown as part of the Berlinale Special.
Food, Inc. and An Education
Adam Resurrected
(Country: Germany, US, Israel; Year: 2008; Director: Paul Schrader; Writer: Yoram Kaniuk, Noah Stollman; Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Derek Jacobi, Ayelet Zurer, Moritz Bleibtreu, Joachim Krol, Juliane Köhler)
A vaudeville star - forced in a concentration camp to act like a dog - is haunted by his past.
An Education
(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Lone Scherfig; Writer: Nick Hornby, based on a memoir by Lynn Barber; Stars: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Cara Seymour, Emma Thompson, Sally Hawkins, Rosamund Pike, Dominic Cooper, Olivia Williams, Matthew Beard),
Trailer
A 16-year-old - and her family - are swept off their feet by a debonair older man.
Berlinale Special Gala
Bellamy
(Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Claude Chabrol; Writer: Odile Barski, Claude Chabrol; Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Clovis Cornillac, Vahina Giocante, Jacques Gamblin, Marie Bunel, Yves Verhoeven, Adrienne Pauly, Rodolphe Pauly, Marie Matheron)
A detective enjoying a quiet holiday in southern France finds himself caught up in an intriguing mystery.
Berlinale Special Homage
Berlin - Ecke Bundesplatz
(Country: Germany; Year: 1999; Director: Detlef Gumm, Hans-Georg Ullrich; Writer: Detlef Gumm, Hans-Georg Ullrich)
Several episodes from the German TV miniseries documenting one area of Berlin.
Cuisine
(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Francois Vogel)
Kaleidoscopic look at a man preparing breakfast.
Berlinale Special Gala
Mother Earth and It Might Get Loud
Eccentricities Of A Blond Hair Girl (Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loira)
(Country: Portugal, Spain, France; Year: 2009; Director: Manoel de Oliveira; Writer: Eça de Queirós, Manoel de Oliveira, Manoel de Oliveira; Stars: Leonor Silveira, Ricardo Trêpa, Catarina Wallenstein, Fernanda Borsatti, Carlos Santos, Diogo Dória, Filipe Vargas, Júlia Buisel)
A man recounts his tragic love story to a stranger.
Effi Briest
(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Hermine Huntgeburth; Stars: Julia Jentsch, Sebastian Koch, Misel Maticevic, Juliane Köhler, Thomas Thieme
)
Period drama about a young woman's bid for emancipation.
Berlinale Special Homage
Empire Of Silver (Baiyin diguo)
(Country: China; Year: 2009; Director: Christina Yao; Stars: Aaron Kwok, Tie Lin Zhang, Hao Lei, Jennifer Tilly, Ding Zhi Cheng, Lei Zhen Yu, King Shih Chieh)
Opulent saga about tensions within a banking dynasty.
Every Little Step
(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Adam Del Deo, James D. Stern; Stars: Bob Avian, Michael Bennett, Charlotte d'Amboise, Ramon Flowers, Jessica Lee Goldyn)
Documentary about dancers auditioning for A Chorus Line.
Food, Inc.
(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Robert Kenner; Writer: Robert Kenner, Elise Pearlstein, Kim Roberts; Stars: Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser),
Official Site
A documentary looking at the state of the US food industry.
Berlinale Special Gala
Pink and Bellamy
Hilde
(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Kai Wessel; Writer: Hildegard Knef, Maria von Heland; Stars: Heike Makatsch, Dan Stevens, Johanna Gastdorf, Hanns Zischler, Monica Bleibtreu, Sylvester Groth, Michael Gwisdek, Hary Prinz, Matthew Dylan Roberts, Jeroen Willems)
Biopic of German leading lady Hildegard Knef.
Berlinale Special Gala
In Berlin
(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Michael Ballhaus, Ciro Cappellari; Writer: Ciro Cappellari; Stars: Alexander Hacke, Maybrit Illner, Dieter Kosslick, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Nele Winkler, Klaus Wowereit)
Documentary charting changes in the German capital over the past 20 years.
It Might Get Loud
(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Davis Guggenheim; Stars: Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White)
The history of the electric guitar from the point of view of Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White.
Berlinale Special Gala
John Rabe
(Country: France, China, Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Florian Gallenberger; Writer: Florian Gallenberger; Stars: Ulrich Tukur, Daniel Brühl, Steve Buscemi, Jingchu Zhang, Anne Consigny, Dagmar Manzel, Gottfried John, Teruyuki Kagawa, Yu Fang, Mathias Herrmann)
A true-story account of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38.
Berlinale Special Gala
Mother Earth (Terra Madre)
(Country: Italy; Year: 2008; Director: Ermanno Olmi)
An examation of the "slow food" movement and the rise of organic farming.
Pink
(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Rudolf Thome; Writer: Rudolf Thome; Stars: Hannah Herzsprung, Guntram Brattia, Florian Panzner, Cornelius Schwalm, Radhe Schiff, Frieder Venus, Tonio Arango, Selda Kaya, Rosa Enskat, Christina Hecke)
A modern fairy tale about a woman who sets out to find love.
