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. 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.

Juries

The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:

Main Competition

Best First Feature Award Jury

International Short Film Jury

Official Sections

Main Competition

The following films were selected in competition for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards:

Out of Competition

The following films were selected for the out of competition screening at the festival:

Official Awards

The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:

Main Competition

Independent Awards

FIPRESCI Award