“Almost half the programme has been decided”, reports Panorama director Wieland Speck, who recently returned from trips to Asia, North and Latin America, as well as several European countries, where he viewed and selected films. He is referring here to the first 21 films in the Panorama programme, which will ultimately include about 50 productions  

The Berlinale European Film Market (EFM), the first international film market of the year 2009, is considered an indicator of the mood in the international film industry. Despite the current economic situation, EFM Director Beki Probst appears content with present developments: “We are very pleased that all exhibit stands at both EFM locations are completely booked. Buyer and seller registrations from Europe are particularly stable at present.”   

The Berlinale first went digital in 2004. Now, in 2009, it is about to take the next big step: 29 of its total 49 screens are being equipped with digital cinema servers for the upcoming festival. This creates a standardized system for screening the films of the festival and European Film Market that are available in a digital format  

“After last year, when important social themes were explored with courage and originality in exemplary stories, the newest German films are this time going in the opposite direction. Apparently private stories and issues are now garnering public attention in various cinematic forms,” says Alfred Holighaus, head of Perspektive Deutsches Kino, as he announces this year’s selection, for which six productions have been confirmed  

Thirteen films have already been selected to participate in the Generation section of the Berlinale 2009 - seven in Kplus and six in 14plus. A record number of more than 1000 films have been submitted this year  

The Homage of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival will be dedicated to Maurice Jarre, the renowned French film composer and winner of multiple Academy Awards. Jarre is considered one of the most important and, at the same time, most popular composers in cinema history. On the occasion of the Homage, Maurice Jarre will be awarded the Honorary Golden Bear for his lifetime achievement on February 12, 2009  

The first titles for the Competition programme of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival have been confirmed. They include films from Algeria, China, Greece, Great Britain, Sweden, the USA, and Germany. This means that in addition to the opening film, the world premiere of Tom Tykwer’s The International (which is screening out of competition, as announced in the press release on Nov. 28, 2008), another ten films have been selected, four of which will be celebrating their world premieres at the Berlinale  

On February 8, 2009 at 3 p.m., the documentary film Food, Inc. will open the 59th Berlin International Film Festival programme Culinary Cinema as a Berlinale Special. This remarkable film premiere will take place at Friedrichstadtpalast and conclude with a top-class discussion and a true culinary treat  

German director Matthias Luthardt (Pingpong) will be president of the “Dialogue en perspective” jury at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2009 the independent jury prize will be awarded for the sixth time to a film in the Berlinale section Perspektive Deutsches Kino  

In autumn 2009, the peaceful revolution and the fall of the Wall will celebrate their 20th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Deutsche Kinemathek have initiated a special series entitled “After Winter Comes Spring – Films Presaging the Fall of the Wall”. The project will be launched at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival.  

The 59th Berlin International Film Festival will open on February 5, 2009 with the world premiere of the US-German co-prodution The International. Directed by Tom Tykwer (Perfume, Run, Lola Run) and featuring a star-studded cast, the action thriller traces the criminal business transactions that finance war and terror.   

The Scottish actress Tilda Swinton will be President of the International Jury at the Berlinale 2009. Tilda Swinton is one of the most prominent and versatile acting talents of her generation. She has received numerous international film awards for her exceptional work   

TV5MONDE, official partner of the Berlinale, and the German-French Youth Office (FGYO) are now calling for bids to enter the jury for the prize “Dialogue en perspective”. Young cinéastes with a passion for critical film analysis can apply from now on to become a jury member for the independent Berlinale award “Dialogue en perspective”  

The 59th Berlin International Film Festival 2009 will include the world-famous Friedrichstadtpalast as one of its cinema venues. From February 7-15, this tradition-steeped and unique revue theatre will turn into a film theatre, where over 1,800 moviegoers can attend four to six screenings from the Competition or Berlinale Special programmes daily  

In the ninth selection round of the World Cinema Fund (WCF) on October 25, the WCF drew a positive balance for 2008 and proposed three film projects for production funding  

By focussing on 70-mm films, the Retrospective of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival will devote itself to the powerful visuals of wide-gauge film. Twice as wide as standard 35-mm film, it is the adequate format for monumental works: screen epics, adventure and science fiction films, Westerns, musicals, as well as magnificent panoramas of nature and intimately beautiful close-ups  

On October 16, the Berlinale Day will be held at the Frankfurt Book Fair (Oct. 15-19, 2008) for the fourth time. The common goal of Germany’s two largest cultural events is to strengthen collaboration between the book and film worlds and promote exchange  

Call for entries - Berlin Today Award 2010  

The short film competition of the Berlinale Talent Campus – supported since 2003 by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg – invites directors from all over the world to submit short film ideas inspired by the theme “Straight to Cinema”  

Focus 2009: Turning Points 

The Berlinale Talent Campus 2009 will address the theme: “Suddenly, It All Happened – The turning point in close-up”. Storytelling is one of the central aspects of successful filmmaking and is as old as humanity itself. Stories have always connected people to their culture  

Effective immediately and until October 30, 2008, internationally experienced producers from all over the world can submit film projects to the 6th Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 8-10, 2009). Projects must have secured a minimum of 30% of their required financing and be suited to co-production in order to qualify  

For the European Film Market 2009, there will be a prime new exhibition space in addition to the Martin-Gropius-Bau – the EFM Marriott Offices in the prestigious Marriott Hotel on Potsdamer Platz  

French-born Catherine Buresi became the new Deputy Director of the Berlinale’s European Film Market (EFM) on September 1, 2008. She succeeds Karen Arikian, who became Executive Director of the Hamptons International Film Festival in March 2008  

For the sixth season running, the Friedrichshain Open-Air Cinema, in cooperation with radio eins, is showing some of the gems from this year’s Berlinale. Anke Leweke and Knut Elstermann, film reviewers for radio eins, will open the Summer Berlinale and whet our appetites for the next four days of stimulating viewing  

In the eighth selection round of the World Cinema Fund (WCF), five film projects from Lebanon, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey and Columbia have been proposed for production funding  

On June 23, 2008, the shoot for My Super Sea Wall began in north Alaska. The film is one of five projects that made it to the final selection for the Berlin Today Award 2009 – the short film competition of the Berlinale Talent Campus. Gina Abatemarco from the USA will realize the short film with Anna Wendt Film Production from Berlin  

Dieter Kosslick has appointed Maryanne Redpath the new Director of Generation, the children’s and youth film section. She will take over on May 1, 2008. Ms. Redpath, who is currently Co-Director of the section, has worked for the festival since 1993, and has been the Berlinale delegate for Australia and New Zealand since 2005. Florian Weghorn, who has assisted Generation’s management since 2002, will succeed Maryanne Redpath as Co-Director  

The Berlin Today Award, supported by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg as the short film competition of the Berlinale Talent Campus since 2003, has nominated five short film projects as finalists in the upcoming round. 176 young filmmakers from 72 countries responded to the call for project ideas related to the theme “My Wall“, conceived to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall