| 69th Berlin International Film Festival | |
| Opening: | The Kindness of Strangers |
| Closing: | Synonyms |
| Location: | Berlin, Germany |
| Founded: | 1951 |
| Awards: | Golden Bear |
| Date: | 7–17 February 2019 |
| Website: | http://www.berlinale.de |
| Chronology: | Berlin International Film Festival |
| Preceded By: | 68th |
| Followed By: | 70th |
The 69th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 7 to 17 February 2019.[1] French actress Juliette Binoche served as the Jury President.
Lone Scherfig's drama film The Kindness of Strangers opened the festival.[2] The Golden Bear was won by Israeli-French drama Synonyms directed by Nadav Lapid, which also served as the closing film of the festival.[3]
The following films were selected for the main competition for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards:[8] [9] [10]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| By the Grace of God | Grâce à dieu | France | ||
| Elisa & Marcela | Elisa y Marcela | Spain | ||
| Ghost Town Anthology | Répertoire des villes disparues | Canada | ||
| God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija | Господ постои, името ѝ е Петрунија | Teona Strugar Mitevska | Belgium, Croatia, France, Macedonia, Slovenia | |
| The Golden Glove | Der Goldene Handschuh | France, Germany | ||
| The Ground Beneath My Feet | Der Boden unter den Füßen | Austria | ||
| The Kindness of Strangers (opening film) | Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States | |||
| I Was at Home, But | Ich war zuhause, aber | Germany, Serbia | ||
| Mr Jones | Poland, Ukraine, United Kingdom | |||
| Öndög | China | |||
| Out Stealing Horses | Ut og stjæle hester | Denmark, Norway, Sweden | ||
| Piranhas | La paranza dei bambini | Italy | ||
| So Long, My Son | 地久天長 | China | ||
| Synonyms | Synonymes | Nadav Lapid | France, Germany, Israel | |
| System Crasher | Systemsprenger | Germany | ||
| A Tale of Three Sisters | Kız Kardeşler | Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Turkey | ||
The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:[10]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazing Grace | Alan Elliott | United States | ||
| Farewell to the Night | L'adieu à la nuit | France, Germany | ||
| Marighella | Brazil | |||
| The Operative | France, Germany, Israel, United States | |||
| Varda by Agnès | Varda par Agnès | France | ||
| Vice | United States | |||
The following films were selected for the Panorama section:[11] [12]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 Seconds | 37秒 | Hikari | Japan | |
| Acid | Кислота | Russia | ||
| All My Loving | Geschwister | Germany | ||
| The Breath | Der Atem | Germany | ||
| Brief Story from the Green Planet | Breve historia del planeta verde | Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Spain | ||
| Buoyancy | Rodd Rathjen | Australia | ||
| Chained | עינויים שלי | Yaron Shani | Israel, Germany | |
| Dafne | Federico Bondi | Italy | ||
| היום שאחרי לאחת | Nimrod Eldar | Israel | ||
| Divine Love | Divino Amor | Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Uruguay | ||
| A Dog Barking at the Moon | 再见南屏晚钟 | Xiang Zi | China, Spain | |
| Family Members | Los miembros de la familia | Mateo Bendesky | Argentina | |
| Flatland | South Africa, Germany, Luxembourg | |||
| Flesh Out | Michela Occhipinti | Italy | ||
| Greta | Armando Praça | Brazil | ||
| Hellhole | Bas Devos | Belgium, Netherlands | ||
| Holy Beasts | La fiera y la fiesta | Dominican Republic, Argentina, Mexico | ||
| Idol | 우상 | South Korea | ||
| Jessica Forever | France | |||
| Light of My Life | United States | |||
| Mid90s | United States | |||
| Midnight Traveler | Hassan Fazili | Canada, Qatar, United Kingdom, United States | ||
| The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea | To thávma tis thálassas ton Sargassón | Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Sweden | ||
| Monos | Argentina, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Uruguay | |||
| O Beautiful Night | Doch wir lächeln zurück | Xaver Xylophon | Germany | |
| The Shadow Play | 风中有朵雨做的云 | China | ||
| Skin | Guy Nattiv | United States | ||
| The Souvenir | United Kingdom, United States | |||
| Staff Only | France, Spain | |||
| Stitches | Šavovi | Miroslav Terzić | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia | |
| Tremors | Temblores | France, Guatemala, Luxembourg | ||
| Panorama Dokumente | ||||
| Beauty and Decay | Schönheit & Vergänglichkeit | Annekatrin Hendel | Germany | |
| A Dog Called Money | Seamus Murphy | Ireland, United Kingdom | ||
| Lemebel | Joanna Reposi Garibaldi | Chile, Colombia | ||
| Normal | Adele Tulli | Italy, Sweden | ||
| On the Starting Line | La Arrancada | Aldemar Matias | Brazil, Cuba, France | |
| Searching Eva | Pia Hellenthal | Germany | ||
| Selfie | Agostino Ferrente | France, Italy | ||
| Serendipity | Prune Nourry | United States | ||
| Shooting the Mafia | Kim Longinotto | Ireland, United Kingdom | ||
| System K | Système K | Renaud Barret | France | |
| Talking About Trees | Suhaib Gasmelbari | Chad, France, Germany, Qatar, Sudan | ||
| Waiting for the Carnival | Estou Me Guardando Para Quando O Carnaval Chegar | Marcelo Gomes | Brazil | |
| Western Arabs | Omar Shargawi | Denmark, Netherlands | ||
| Rob Garver | United States | |||
The following films were selected for the Berlinale Special section:[8] [9] [10]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | ||||
| The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind | United Kingdom | |||
| Brecht | Austria, Germany, Czech Republic | |||
| The North | El Norte | United Kingdom, United States | ||
| Gully Boy | India | |||
| It Could Have Been Worse – Mario Adorf | Es hätte schlimmer kommen können – Mario Adorf | Dominik Wessely | Germany | |
| Kids in the Spotlight | Lampenfieber | Alice Agneskirchner | Germany | |
| Peter Lindbergh – Women Stories | Jean Michel Vecchiet | Germany | ||
| Photograph | Germany, India, United States | |||
| Watergate | United States | |||
| Who You Think I Am | Celle que vous croyez | France | ||
| You Only Live Once – Die Toten Hosen on Tour | Weil du nur einmal lebst – Die Toten Hosen auf Tour | Cordula Kablitz-Post | Germany | |
The following films were selected for the Berlinale Shorts section:[13]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All on a Mardi Gras Day | Michal Pietrzyk | United States | ||
| The Station (out of competition) | Al Mahatta | Eltayeb Mahdi | Sudan | |
| Blue Boy | Manuel Abramovich | Argentina/Germany | ||
| Can't You See Them? - Repeat. | Clarissa Thieme | Germany/Bosnia and Herzegovina | ||
| Red Rubber Boots (out of competition) | Crvene gumene čizme | Jasmila Žbanić | Bosnia/Herzegovina | |
| Entropia | Flóra Anna Buda | Hungary | ||
| Flexible Bodies | Louis Fried | Germany | ||
| Héctor | Victoria Giesen Carvajal | Chile | ||
| How to Breathe in Kern County | Chris Filippone | United States | ||
| It has to be lived once and dreamed twice | Rainer Kohlberger | Germany/Austria | ||
| Kingdom | Tan Wei Keong | Singapore | ||
| The Golden Legend | Leyenda dorada | Chema García Ibarra, Ion de Sosa | Spain | |
| Mr. Mare | Lidérc úr | Luca Tóth | Hungary/France | |
| Blessed Land | Mot Khu Dat Tot | Pham Ngoc Lan | Vietnam | |
| In Between | Në Mes | Samir Karahoda | Kosovo | |
| Omarska | Varun Sasindran | France | ||
| Past Perfect | Jorge Jácome | Portugal | ||
| Catching Fire | Prendre feu | Michaël Soyez | France | |
| Palace of Colours | Rang Mahal | Prantik Basu | India | |
| Rise | Bárbara Wagner, Benjamin de Burca | Brazil/Canada/USA | ||
| Shakti | Martín Rejtman | Argentina/Chile | ||
| The Spirit Keepers of Makuta'ay | Yen-Chao Lin | Canada | ||
| Splash | Shen Jie | China | ||
| Watermelon Juice | Suc de síndria | Irene Moray | Spain | |
| Umbra | Florian Fischer, Johannes Krell | Germany | ||
| World on Board | Welt an Bord | Eva Könnemann | Germany | |
The following prizes were awarded:[14] [15] [16]