Claim: The Messenger premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009.

The Messenger is a 2009 war drama film starring Ben Foster , Woody Harrelson , Samantha Morton , Steve Buscemi , and Jena Malone . It is the directorial debut of Oren Moverman , who also wrote the screenplay with Alessandro Camon .   The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and was in competition at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay and the Berlinale Peace Film Award ' 09 . The film received first prize for the 2009 Deauville American Film Festival . The film has also received four Independent Spirit Award nominations -LRB- including one win -RRB- , a Golden Globe nomination , and two Academy Award nominations .