The film centres on the dogged persistence of Interpol agent Louis Salinger and New York district attorney Eleanor Whitman to bring to justice one of the most powerful banks in the world – a bank that would appear to be involved in financing terrorist attacks all over the world. After uncovering a swathe of illegal activities, investigators Salinger and Whitman follow the flow of funds from Berlin to Milan, New York and Istanbul. Before long, they find themselves embroiled in a high-stakes chase around the globe. Their uncompromising tenacity puts their own lives at risk because the people they are after will stop at nothing – not even murder – in order to continue financing terrorist attacks and wars.

Tom Tykwer: "The film is above all a thriller – albeit more of a political thriller, a genre that has almost died out these days." With "The International" Tykwer is following in the tradition of films such as Alan J. Pakula′s 1974 work, "The Parallax View" or John Schlesinger′s "Marathon Man" (1976). During the shoot in Potsdam-Babelsberg, the rotunda of New York′s Guggenheim Museum was rebuilt in the nearby hall of an old GDR steam engine plant – "VEB Lokomotivbau Karl Marx". Other locations included Berlin, Istanbul and Milan.

Source: 59. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)