The Dance of the Golden Bears: LOVEFiLM at Berlinale 2009

Fraudulent financiers and bad banks? No, it's not the credit crunch, but the opening film of the 59th Berlin Film Festival. The International, from director Tom Tykwer (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Run Lola Run) is an action thriller starring Clive Owen as an INTERPOL agent trying to bring down one of the world's most powerful - and criminal - banks. Certainly a topical choice to open Berlinale, which runs from 5th to 15th February.

The world may be in a financial crisis, but that didn't stop people from turning out on Thursday: the stars, the directors, the distributors and the sales agents, and of course the spectators - some of who queued for hours with no guarrantee of being able to buy a ticket.

This year, 383 films from 60 countries are being shown, so there's something for everyone. But even if you can't get a ticket for specific film, the chances are pretty good that you can get close to one of the stars. In addition to Clive Owen, in the next few days the red carpet on Potsdamer Platz will be graced by stars such as Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jude Law, Winona Ryder, Julianne Moore, Keanu Reeves and Kate Winslet. They're all here to present their new films and, hopefully, to take back one or more of the famous Bears, the highest award being the Golden Bear that goes to the best film.

There's 26 films in the official competition, and scrutinising them is a international jury headed by Britain's own Tilda Swinton, which includes Spanish film maker Isabel Coixet and German director Christoph Schlingensief. They'll be viewing the latest offerings from the likes of Stephen Frears and Francois Ozon.

There also lots to explore outside of the competition. For example, the retrospective section is offering a selection of epic cinema under title '70mm: Bigger than Life', including Ben Hur and Lawrence Of Arabia both being shown in their original format.

And that's only the official program. Berlinale is also known for its wild parties. Speaking of which, we'll be bringing you daily up to date reports from the festival (it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it), so check back here to find out what were the best films, the most exciting premieres and coolest stars we came across.

Day 1.

Are cinema goers - public and press alike - milder in their judgements in times of ecomonic turmoil? The opening of the 59th Berlin Film Festival might lead you to think so. When actors Clive Owen, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Ulrich Thomsen and Axel Milberg turned out along with director Tom Tykwer to present their film The International, it received a resounding applause, even at the lunch time press showing... read more.

Day 2.

There's clearly a child problem at Berlinale, with Naomi Watts staying home due to her newly born baby, German comedian Anke Engelke not wanting to show up because of her clearly visible bump and the main actor of the gripping French competition entry Ricky was also a no show (since he IS a baby)...read more.

Day 3 and 4.

Marinca. Ever heard that name before? No, it's not a Hungarian opera, nor is it a hotel in Corsica. It's actually the surname of a young Romanian actress who takes the lead in the highlight of Day 3 at the Berlinale, Storm, the story of a young Bosnian woman who is called before the war crimes tribunal in the Hague to testify what she witnessed in the Yuoslav wars. In fact, German director Hans-Christian Schmid's enthralling and touching thriller is the best film of the competition so far, largely thanks to an extraordinary performance from Anamaria Marinca. Anamaria's character lives in Berlin, and at the press conference for Storm, she confessed that she was terrified of having to speak in German. But she needn't have worried because she mastered the language inredibly well. So commit the name to memory and in the meantime you can check her out in 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, which won multiple awards at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival...read more.

Day 5.

On the fifth day of the Berlinale it's sorely tempting to question the reasons behind Keanu Reeves's success. He’s been one of Hollywood's best paid actors for years now, he’s has scores of fans worldwide and, as the hero of The Matrix Trilogy, he gets to chose whatever projects he pleases. But, love him or hate him, you have to agree that he always seems so absent-minded on screen, almost bored and unmotivated...read more.

Day 6. Once upon a time - well, in 2002 - you couldn’t find a single top star at the Berlinale. That's why some clever cloggs came up with the idea of an extra set of awards that would guarantee star attendance. The new prize had to be something really special. Borrowing from Amnesty International, what they came up with was the “Cinema for Peace” initiative. Now, although it's not officially connected to the festival, it's the “Cinema for Peace” the event that gets the highest attention at the Berlinale. and with past "most valuable film of the year" award winners including George Clooney for Good Night and Good Luck, it's not hard to see why?... read more.

Day 7.

Life After Death was the ironic title of the hugley successful album by US rapper Notorious B.I.G. It was released just two weeks after his violent death in 1997. The multimillionaire rapped about his tough life on the streets of Brooklyn, drug dealing and his personal catch 22, "You’re nobody 'til somebody kills you”. What has this got to do with the Berlinale? You’ll have to ask festival director Dieter Kosslick that... read more.

Day 8.

Miscasting is the topic of the eighth day at the Berlinale. In My One and Only, we just didn't buy Renée Zellweger as a platinum blonde sex bomb driving through the US and visiting her all ex-lovers. Maybe it's because she was so convincing as the v. insecure Bridget Jones. Or maybe it was her Oscar winning performance as a homely farmer in Cold Mountain. Nevertheless, the film, which is set in the 50s and based on the childhood memories of US actor George Hamilton - Zellweger plays Hamilton's flirtatious mother - is garnering very positive reviews... read more.

Day 9 and 10.

The 59th Berlinale the most popular ever with over 270,000 tickets sold. But what about the quality of the movies we saw? A slightly different story there. Many festival guests expressed their disappointment regarding the festival entries. One critic said the films were, "Neither blockbusters nor experimental, but something in between". And they have a point because the films that were really satisfying were those aimed not at the mainstream cinema audience, nor the art house scene... read more.