Photo courtesy Berlin International Film Festival

BERLIN—The 2009 Berlin International Film Festival, the “Berlinale,” will take place February 5-15. The event celebrates its 59th year in 2009 and boasts an impressive lineup, with some 350 film screenings on deck (most of which are making their debut).

The festival is both an international industry event and a great chance for film enthusiasts to enjoy advance screenings. The Berlinale’s complete 2009 screening schedule has not been released yet, but will be posted soon on the festival’s website.

Some highlights of the 2009 Berlinale

Cold War—The autumn of 2009 will mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. To commemorate the event, the festival will feature “After the Winter comes the Spring,” a film series focused on the end of the Cold War.

Bigger than Life—A retrospective of films shot in the double-wide 70-mm format. The series, called “70 mm — Bigger than Life,” will feature 22 films shot in the format, including American classics West Side Story,  Ben Hur, and Cleopatra, as well as Russian epics.

The International—The film festival will open on February 5, 2009 with the world premiere of the British-German co-production The International, directed by Tom Tykwer (Perfume and Run, Lola Run).

A word about hotels…

Cheapos eager to attend the Berlinale are encouraged to make hotel reservations as soon as possible. We performed an availability search over our lunch break today and found more than 25 of our editor’s pick hotels in Berlin with rooms for under $100 a night (double occupancy–for February 9-11).

But still, availability will be increasingly limited, so if you’re heading to the festival, get a good room while you have some choice.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Photo by Darklight Festival

The Darklight Festival is Dublin’s premiere festival for filmmakers, animators, and artists. The festival explores work that investigates the intersection of art, film, and technology. This year it will kick off on Friday, June 22, 2007.

In addition to screenings of digital filmmaking, a kids program, a symposium, lectures, workshops, and even virtual activities will round out the festival schedule.

If you are visiting from afar, the festival is happy to recommend hotels near the venues as well as distribute travel information about Dublin. Tickets can be pre-booked, and special student rates will apply if you can produce a valid student identity card when you collect your tickets.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Photograph by Initiales JB

Beginning today, March 22, 2007, the Institut Français d’Athenes is hosting its eighth annual French Film Festival.

From today through April 1, the festival set up shop Athens, at the Attikon Cinema (Stadiou 19, metro station: Panepistimiou, tel: +30-210-322-8821, tickets €8, €6 for children and students (Monday through Thursday). Tickets can be purchased by phone through Cinemax at +30-80111-300-400 or online, at the Apollon Cinema (tel: +30-210-323-6811), and at the French Institute (Sina 31, tel: +30-210-3398-600, ifa@ifa.gr).

From Monday, March 26 through April 4, the film festival will extend its reach to Thessaloniki, at the Olympian Cinema (Plateia Aristotelous, tel: +30-2310-378-404).

This festival is currently entering its eighth year, and is very popular among residents of both cities. It affords French-loving Greeks the opportunity to see an assortment of recently-released Francophone films produced worldwide—from Chad to Canada to Switzerland—along with a collection of classic works from important French directors, shorts, animation, and children’s films.

Right now, everybody is talking about something intriguing on the festival’s program: “Five films you must see before you die.” The films assigned to this category are free to moviegoers with student IDs.

Popularity: 4% [?]

photograph courtesy of clairevet

Cheapos, pay attention! Printemps du Cinema, organised by the National Federation of Cinema, is a not-to-be-missed event in France. From March 18-20, 2007, all cinemas in France will be selling tickets for €3.50 instead of the usual €9.50. It’s a fantastic opportunity to see new releases or catch up on films you haven’t yet found the time to check out.

For nationwide listings, go to allocine.fr. Amongst the current mainstream releases are Breaking and Entering, Letters from Iwo Jima, Dreamgirls, Blood Diamond, and The Last King of Scotland. Make sure you are going to a V.O. (version originale) showing—which means the movie will be screened in its original language with French subtitles—as opposed to V.F. (version francaise) film.

Paris has a welter of unique and charming independent cinemas worth seeking out for the aesthetic experience of a visit alone. La Pagode, for example, is an authentic Japanese pagoda built in 1895 as a gift from a French businessman to his wife. Today it is a delightful art house cinema complete with a garden and tea room, located at 57 bis, rue de Babylone 75007. Metro: Saint François Xavier.

Popularity: 3% [?]