# 40th Berlin International Film Festival

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 Larks on a String 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.

## Jury

The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:
* Michael Ballhaus, West-German director of photography - Jury President
* Margaret Ménégoz, French producer - Jury Co-president
* Vadim Abdrashitov, Soviet filmmaker
* Suzana Amaral, Brazilian filmmaker
* Steven Bach, American writer and producer
* Roberto Benigni, Italian actor, filmmaker
* Lívia Gyarmathy, Hungarian director and screenwriter
* Helke Misselwitz, East-German filmmaker
* Otto Sander, West-German actor
* Stephen Silverman, American actor
* Rita Tushingham, British actress

## Official Sections
### Main Competition

The following films were in competition for the Golden Bear:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
| Angels | Los ángeles | Jacob Berger | Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium |
| The Asthenic Syndrome | Астенический синдром | Kira Muratova | Soviet Union |
| Black Snow | 本命年 | Xie Fei | China |
| Born on the Fourth of July | Born on the Fourth of July | Oliver Stone | United States |
| Coming Out | Coming Out | Heiner Carow | East Germany |
| Driving Miss Daisy | Driving Miss Daisy | Bruce Beresford | United States |
| The Handmaid's Tale | The Handmaid's Tale | Volker Schlöndorff | United States, West Germany |
| Crossing Borders | Herzlich willkommen | Hark Bohm | West Germany |
| The Guard | Караул | Aleksandr Rogozhkin | Soviet Union |
| Larks on a String | Skřivánci na niti | Jiří Menzel | Czechoslovakia |
| Music Box | Music Box | Costa-Gavras | United States |
| The Nasty Girl | Das schreckliche Mädchen | Michael Verhoeven | West Germany |
| The Paper Wedding | Les noces de papier | Michel Brault | Canada |
| Shadow Makers | Shadow Makers | Roland Joffé | United States |
| The Secret | Il segreto | Francesco Maselli | Italy |
| Sentenced to Death | A halálraítélt | János Zsombolyai | Hungary |
| Silent Scream | Silent Scream | David Hayman | United Kingdom |
| The Winter War | Talvisota | Pekka Parikka | Finland |
| A Woman's Revenge | La vengeance d'une femme | Jacques Doillon | France |
| Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! | ¡Átame! | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain |
| The War of the Roses | The War of the Roses | Danny DeVito | United States |

### Out of competition

* 300 mil do nieba, directed by Maciej Dejczer (Poland)
* Everybody Wins, directed by Karel Reisz (United States, United Kingdom)
* Crimes and Misdemeanors, directed by Woody Allen (United States)
* Steel Magnolias, directed by Herbert Ross (United States)
* A Terra-Cotta Warrior, directed by Ching Siu-tung (Hong Kong)
* Conte de printemps, directed by Éric Rohmer (France)
* Resan till Melonia, directed by Per Åhlin (Sweden)
* Spur der Steine, directed by Frank Beyer (East Germany)

### Retrospective

The following films were shown in the retrospective titled "The Year 1945":
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
| A Defeated People | A Defeated People | Humphrey Jennings | United Kingdom |
| A Diary for Timothy | A Diary for Timothy | Humphrey Jennings | United Kingdom |
| A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | Elia Kazan | United States |
| Fall of Berlin – 1945 | Берлин Berlin | Yuli Raizman | Soviet Union |
| Images from German cities | Bilder aus deutschen Städten | (unknown) | Germany |
| Brief Encounter | Brief Encounter | David Lean | United Kingdom |
| Tragic Hunt | Caccia tragica | Giuseppe De Santis | Italy |
| Girl No. 217 | Человек No. 217 Chelovek No. 217 | Mikhail Romm | Soviet Union |
| The German newsreel of 1945 | Die Deutsche Wochenschau aus dem Jahr 1945 | Josef von Báky | Germany |
| Night of the Twelve | Die Nacht der Zwölf | Hans Schweikart | Germany |
| Death Mills | Die Todesmühlen | Hanuš Burger | Germany |
| Journey to Happiness | Fahrt ins Glück | Erich Engel | Germany |
| Fallen Angel | Fallen Angel | Otto Preminger | United States |
| Germany, Year Zero | Germania anno zero | Roberto Rossellini | Italy |
| Days of Glory | Giorni di gloria | Luchino Visconti, Giuseppe De Santis and Marcello Pagliero | Italy |
| Great Freedom No. 7 | Große Freiheit Nr. 7 | Helmut Käutner | Germany |
| Children of the Beehive | 蜂の巣の子供たち | Hiroshi Shimizu | Japan |
| Henry V | Henry V | Laurence Olivier | United Kingdom |
| Here Is Germany | Here Is Germany | Frank Capra | United States |
| Hitler Lives | Hitler Lives | Don Siegel | United States |
| Hollywood Victory Caravan | Hollywood Victory Caravan | William D. Russell | United States |
| Hunger | Honger | Rudi Hornecker | Netherlands |
| Hotel Berlin | Hotel Berlin | Peter Godfrey | United States |
| The Bandit | Il bandito | Alberto Lattuada | Italy |
| Ivan the Terrible | Иван Грозный | Sergei Eisenstein | Soviet Union |
| Victory of Women | 女性の勝利 | Kenji Mizoguchi | Japan |
| Kolberg | Kolberg | Veit Harlan | Germany |
| The Battle of the Rails | La Bataille du rail | René Clément | France |
| Lapin tuho | Lapin tuho | Brita Wrede | Finland |
| Le 6 juin à l'aube | Le 6 juin à l'aube | Jean Grémillon | France |
| Reunion | Le Retour | Henri Cartier-Bresson | France |
| The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne | Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne | Robert Bresson | France |
| Children of Paradise | Les Enfants du Paradis | Marcel Carné | France |
| The Damned | Les Maudits | René Clément | France |
| Let There Be Light | Let There Be Light | John Huston | United States |
| Mathilde Möhring | Mathilde Möhring | Rolf Hansen | Germany |
| The Famous Sword Bijomaru | 名刀美女丸 | Kenji Mizoguchi | Japan |
| Mildred Pierce | Mildred Pierce | Michael Curtiz | United States |
| Ninotchka | Ninotchka | Ernst Lubitsch | United States |
| Objective, Burma! | Objective, Burma! | Raoul Walsh | United States |
| Rome, Open City | Roma città aperta | Roberto Rossellini | Italy |
| San Francisco | San Francisco | Willard Van Dyke | United States |
| Scarlet Street | Scarlet Street | Fritz Lang | United States |
| The Battle of San Pietro | The Battle of San Pietro | John Huston | United States |
| The House on 92nd Street | The House on 92nd Street | Henry Hathaway | United States |
| The Last Chance | Die letzte Chance | Leopold Lindtberg | Switzerland |
| The Lost Weekend | The Lost Weekend | Billy Wilder | United States |
| The Story of G.I. Joe | The Story of G.I. Joe | William A. Wellman | United States |
| The Stranger | The Stranger | Orson Welles | United States |
| The True Glory | The True Glory | Garson Kanin and Carol Reed | United Kingdom, United States |
| They Were Expendable | They Were Expendable | John Ford | United States |
| Lowlands | Tiefland | Leni Riefenstahl | West Germany |
| The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail | 虎の尾を踏む男達 | Akira Kurosawa | Japan |
| Hymn of the Nations | Hymn of the Nations | Alexander Hammid | United States |
| To the Shores of Iwo Jima | To the Shores of Iwo Jima | (unknown) | United States |
| Two People | Tva människor | Carl Theodor Dreyer | Sweden |
| Two Down and One to Go | Two Down and One to Go | Frank Capra | United States |
| Under the Bridges | Unter den Brücken | Helmut Käutner | Germany |
| Somewhere in Europe | Valahol Európában | Géza von Radványi | Hungary |
| Via Mala | Via Mala | Josef von Báky | Germany |
| Encounter at the Elbe | Встреча на Эльбе | Grigori Aleksandrov and Aleksey Utkin | Soviet Union |
| War Comes to America | War Comes to America | Frank Capra and Anatole Litvak | United States |
| The Annihilation of Berlin | Zaglada Berlina | Jerzy Bossak | Poland |

## Official Awards

The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:
* Golden Bear:
** Music Box by Costa-Gavras
** Larks on a String by Jiří Menzel
* Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize: The Asthenic Syndrome by Kira Muratova
* Silver Bear for Best Director: Michael Verhoeven for The Nasty Girl
* Silver Bear for Best Joint Performance: Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman
* Silver Bear for Best Actor: Iain Glen for Silent Scream
* Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievement: Black Snow by Xie Fei
* Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contribution: Coming Out
* Alfred-Bauer Prize: Karaul
* FIPRESCI Award
** Karaul by Aleksandr Rogozhkin