The Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europe's "Big Three" film festivals alongside the Venice Film Festival held in Italy and the Cannes Film Festival held in France. Furthermore, it is one of the "Big Five", the most prestigious film festivals in the world. The festival regularly draws tens of thousands of visitors each year.
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 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 21 February 2010, with Werner Herzog as President of the Jury. The opening film of the festival was Chinese director Wang Quan'an's romantic drama Apart Together, in competition, while the closing film is Japanese director Yoji Yamada's About Her Brother, which was screened out of competition.
The 22nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 23 June to 4 July 1972. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Italian film I racconti di Canterbury directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini.
The 58th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 7 to February 17, 2008. The festival opened with Martin Scorsese's documentary film Shine a Light. Be Kind Rewind by Michel Gondry served as the closing film. Greek filmmaker Costa Gavras, was selected to serve as the Jury President for the main competition.
The 27th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 24 June – 5 July 1977. The festival opened with Nickelodeon by Peter Bogdanovich. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Soviet Union film The Ascent directed by Larisa Shepitko. Since this edition, the annual Retrospective and Homage events has been coordinated jointly between the festival organization and the Deutsche Kinemathek. The retrospective shown at the festival was dedicated to German actress Marlene Dietrich, which was divided into two parts, with Part 1 being shown this year along with the retrospective called Love, Death and Technology. Cinema of the Fantastical 1933–1945. The guest of the Homage was West German filmmaker Wilfried Basse.
The 36th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held 14–25 February 1986. The festival opened with Ginger and Fred by Federico Fellini, which played out of competition at the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to West German film Stammheim directed by Reinhard Hauff. The retrospective was in honour of German actress and film producer Henny Porten and the homage was dedicated to American film director Fred Zinnemann. Claude Lanzmann's 9 hour long documentary film Shoah about The Holocaust was screened at the Young Filmmakers Forum.
The 40th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 February 1990. The festival opened with Steel Magnolias by Herbert Ross, which was shown out of competition. The Golden Bear was awarded ex aequo to the American film Music Box directed by Costa-Gavras and Czechoslovak film Skřivánci na niti directed by Jiří Menzel. The retrospective of this edition included two programs: The Year 1945, dedicated to international productions released in 1945, and 40 Years Berlinale, dedicated to some of the most significant films presented during the past editions of the festival.
The 62nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 19 February 2012. British film director Mike Leigh was the President of the Jury. The first five films to be screened in the competition were announced on 19 December 2011. American actress Meryl Streep was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear on 14 February. Benoît Jacquot's film Farewell, My Queen was announced as the opening film.
The 47th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 February 1997.
The 48th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 February 1998. The festival opened with the Irish film The Boxer by Jim Sheridan. Francis Ford Coppola's The Rainmaker was selected as the closing night film.
The 51st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 7 to 18, 2001. The festival opened with war-drama film Enemy at the Gates by Jean-Jacques Annaud. 70 mm restored version of Stanley Kubrick's 1968 Sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey was the closing film of the festival.
The 52nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 6 to 17, 2002. The festival opened with Heaven by Tom Tykwer. The new print of Charlie Chaplin's 1940 American satirical dramedy film The Great Dictator was the closing film of the festival.
The 63rd annual Berlin International Film Festival took place in Berlin, Germany, between 7 and 17 February 2013. Chinese film director Wong Kar-wai was announced as the President of the Jury and his film The Grandmaster was the opening film of the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Romanian film Child's Pose directed by Călin Peter Netzer, which also served as the closing film.
The 55th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 10–20, 2005. Man to Man by Régis Wargnier served as opening night film. The festival closed with Kinsey by Bill Condon.
The 54th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5–15 February 2004. The festival opened with out of competition film Cold Mountain by Anthony Minghella. 25 Degrees in Winter by Stéphane Vuillet served as the closing film.
The 53rd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 6–16, 2003. The festival opened with musical film Chicago by Rob Marshall and closed with Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, both films played out of competition at the festival.
The 64th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 6 to 16 February 2014. Wes Anderson's film The Grand Budapest Hotel opened the festival.
The 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 February 2015, with American film director Darren Aronofsky as the President of the Jury. German film director Wim Wenders was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear. The first seven films of the festival were announced on 15 December 2014.
The 68th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 15 to 25 February 2018. German filmmaker Tom Tykwer served as Jury President.
