Three French films won awards in the Official Selection at the 2009 Berlinale. Despite the recession, strong interest was shown in film acquisitions at the Film Market.
One of the most lauded films in the festival competition, London River by Rachid Bouchareb, was honored with the Best Actor award for Sotigui Kouyaté as well as garnering a Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury. Welcome by Philippe Lioret picked up the Ecumenical Jury Prize and the “Europa Cinema Label” award. C’est pas moi je le jure! (It's Not Me, I Swear!) by Philippe Falardeau waltzed off with three awards: the Crystal Bear from the Youth Jury in the Generation Kplus Section, the International Jury Grand Prize, and the German Youth Award. At the Film Market, Wild Bunch sold the rights to Et après (Afterwards) by Gilles Bourdos to the Weinstein Company Inc. for the United States and Le Petit Nicolas by Laurent Tirard in Spain. Oceans 3D: Into the Deep has been acquired in more than 25 territories, including by Eagle pictures in Italy, Wanda Films in Spain, Cinélibre in Belgium, Monolith Films in Poland, Lusomundo in Portugal, Spentzos Films in Greece, Babilla Cine in Latin America, Prime Pictures in the Near East, New Vision in China, Gaga Communication in Japan, and Velavar in India. Largo Winch was acquired for the Spanish territory by Wanda. La Blonde aux seins nus was acquired by Lumière in the Benelux countries. Le Code a changé (Change of Plans), handled by StudioCanal, was acquired by Denmark (Camera Films) and Norway (CCV Oro Films). Represented by Pathé International, LOL was acquired in Germany (by Delphi Filmverleih), Spain (by Alta Films), and Italy (Medusa Films), while L'élégance du hérisson by Mona Achache will be distributed in Italy by Eagle Pictures, and has also been pre-sold for the Benelux countries (Cinéart) and Greece (Video 7). Je l'aimais (Someone I Loved) by Zabou Breitman was sold by SND/M6 DA for Germany (Concorde Filmverleih, Scandinavia (Svensk Filmindustri AB), the Benelux countries (Victory Productions), and Switzerland (JMH Distribution), while Les Herbes folles by Alain Resnais a was pre-sold with Coach 14 for the Benelux countries (Victory Productions), Portugal (Atalanta Filmes), Romania (IF - Independenta Film), and the former Yugoslavia (MCF). (Source: CinEuropa.org)
