2008 Cannes Film Festival
The 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 14 to 25 May 2008. The President of the Official Jury was American actor and director Sean Penn. Twenty two films from fourteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 24 May. The film The Class, directed by Laurent Cantet won the Palme d'Or.
The festival opened with Blindness, directed by Fernando Meirelles and closed with What Just Happened, directed by Barry Levinson. Édouard Baer was the master of ceremonies. Hunger, directed by Steve McQueen, opened the Un Certain Regard section.
The British press reported the list of films in competition this year was notable for its absence of British films for the second successive year. In addition to films selected for competition this year, major Hollywood productions such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Kung Fu Panda had their world premieres at the festival.
Juries
Main competition
The following people were appointed as the Jury for the feature films of the 2008 Official Selection:- Sean Penn Jury President
- Jeanne Balibar
- Rachid Bouchareb
- Sergio Castellitto
- Alfonso Cuaron
- Alexandra Maria Lara
- Natalie Portman
- Marjane Satrapi
- Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Un Certain Regard
- Fatih Akin President
- Anupama Chopra
- Yasser Moheb
- Yekaterina Mtsituridze
- José Maria Prado
Cinefondation and short films
- Hou Hsiao-hsien President
- Olivier Assayas
- Susanne Bier
- Marina Hands
- Laurence Kardish
Caméra d'Or
- Bruno Dumont President
- Isabelle Danel
- Jean-Michel Frodon
- Monique Kourdine
- Willy Kurant
- Jean Henri Roger
Official selection
In competition - Feature films
The following feature films competed for the Palme d'Or:Un Certain Regard
The following films were selected for the competition of Un Certain Regard:- Afterschool by Antonio Campos
- Hunger by Steve McQueen
- Involuntary by Ruben Östlund
- I Want to See by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
- Johnny Mad Dog by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
- The Dead Girl's Feast by Matheus Nachtergaele
- La Vie moderne by Raymond Depardon
- Salt of this Sea by Annemarie Jacir
- Los Bastardos by Amat Escalante
- O' Horten by Bent Hamer
- Parking by Chung Mong-Hong
- Soi Cowboy by Thomas Clay
- Tokyo!, by Michel Gondry Leos Carax and Bong Joon-ho
- Tokyo Sonata by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- Tulpan by Sergey Dvortsevoy
- Tyson by James Toback
- Versailles by Pierre Schoeller
- Wendy and Lucy by Kelly Reichardt
- Cloud 9 by Andreas Dresen
- Ocean Flame by Fendou Liu
Films out of competition
- The Chaser by Na Hong-jin
- The Good, the Bad, the Weird by Kim Jee-woon
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by Steven Spielberg
- Kung Fu Panda by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
- Maradona by Emir Kusturica
- Surveillance by Jennifer Chambers Lynch
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona by Woody Allen
- What Just Happened? by directed by Barry Levinson
Special Screenings
- Ashes of Time Redux by Wong Kar-wai
- C'est dur d'être aimé par des cons by Daniel Leconte
- Chelsea on the Rocks by Abel Ferrara
- Of Time and the City by Terence Davies
- by Marina Zenovich
- The Third Wave by Alison Thompson
- Wild Blood by Marco Tullio Giordana
Cinéfondation
- August 15th by Jiang Xuan
- Blind Spot by Johanna Bessiere, Nicolas Chauvelot, Olivier Clert, Cécile Dubois Herry, Yvon Jardel, Simon Rouby
- El Reloj by Marco Berger
- Et dans mon coeur j'emporterai by Yoon Sung-A
- Forbach by Claire Burger
- Gata by Diana Mkrtchyan
- Gestern In Eden by Jan Speckenbach
- Himnon by Elad Keidan
- Illusion Dwellers by Robb Ellender
- Interior. Scara de Bloc by Ciprian Alexandrescu
- Kestomerkitsijät by Juho Kuosmanen
- Naus by Lukás Glaser
- O som e o resto by André Lavaquial
- Shtika by Hadar Morag
- Stop by Park Jae-Ok
- The Maid by Heidi Saman
- This Is a Story About Ted and Alice by Teressa Tunney
Short film competition
- 411-Z by Daniel Erdélyi
- Buen Viaje by Javier Palleiro
- De moins en moins by Mélanie Laurent
- El Deseo by Marie Benito
- Jerrycan by Julius Avery
- Love You More by Sam Taylor-Wood
- Megatron by Marian Crişan
- My Rabbit Hoppy by Anthony Lucas
- Smafuglar by Rúnar Rúnarsson
Cannes Classics
Tributes
- Douro, faina fluvial by Manoel de Oliveira
- Il était une fois...Lawrence d'Arabie by Anne Kunvari
- La Collection Cinéma cinémas by Claude Ventura
- ' by James Chressanthis
- The Mystery of Samba by Jabor Carolina, Buarque De Hollanda Lula
Parallel sections
International Critics' Week
The following films were screened for the 47th International Critics' Week :Feature film competition
- Better Things by Duane Hopkins
- The Stranger in Me by Emily Atef
- Everybody Dies But Me by Valeriya Gai Germanika
- Blood Appears by Pablo Fendrik
- Les Grandes personnes by Anna Novion
- Moscow, Belgium by Christophe Van Rompaey
- Snow by Aida Begić
- A espera by Fernanda Teixeira
- Ahendu nde sapukai by Pablo Lamar
- :hu:Ergo|Ergo by Géza M. Tóth
- La Copie de Coralie by Nicolas Engel
- Next Floor by Denis Villeneuve
- Nosebleed by Jeff Vespa
- Skhizein by Jérémy Clapin
- 7 days by Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz
- Rumba by Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, Bruno Romy
- Home by Ursula Meier
- The Desert Within by Rodrigo Plá
- The End of Poverty? by Philippe Diaz
- Enfants de Don Quichotte by Ronan Dénécé, Augustin Legrand, Jean-Baptiste Legrand
- Areia by Caetano Gotardo
- La Résidence Ylang Ylang by Hachimiya Ahamada
- L’ondée by David Coquard-Dassault
- Beyond the Mexique Bay by Jean-Marc Rousseau Ruiz
- Taxi Wala by Lola Frederich
- Graffiti by Vano Burduli
- Les Filles de feu by Jean-Sébastien Chauvin
- Les Paradis Perdus by Hélier Cisterne
- Young Man Falling by Martin De Thurah
- A Relationship in Four Days by Peter Glanz
Directors' Fortnight
Feature films
- Acne by Federico Veiroj
- Our Beloved Month of August by Miguel Gomes
- Boogie by Radu Muntean
- Les Bureaux de Dieu by Claire Simon
- Birdsong by Albert Serra
- Four Nights with Anna by Jerzy Skolimowski
- De la guerre by Bertrand Bonello
- Dernier maquis by Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche
- Eldorado by Bouli Lanners
- Private Lessons by Joachim Lafosse
- Liverpool by Lisandro Alonso
- Monsieur Morimoto by Nicola Sornaga
- Knitting by Yin Lichuan
- Now Showing by Raya Martin
- The Pleasure of Being Robbed by Josh Safdie
- Il Resto della notte by Francesco Munzi
- Salamandra by Pablo Agüero
- Shultes by Bakur Bakuradze
- Blind Loves by Juraj Lehotský
- Taraneh Tanhaïye Tehran by Saman Salour
- Tony Manero by Pablo Larraín
- Le Voyage aux Pyrénées by Arnaud et Jean-Marie Larrieu
- 40X15 by Olivier Jahan
- Itinéraire de Jean Bricard by Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub
- Le Genou d’Artemide by Jean-Marie Straub
- Milestones by John Douglas, Robert Kramer
- The Acquaintances of a Lonely John by Benny Safdie
- Ciel éteint! by F.J. Ossang
- Easter Morning by Bruce Conner
- Il fait beau dans la plus belle ville du monde by Valérie Donzelli
- Je vous hais petites filles by Yann Gonzalez
- Kamel s’est suicidé six fois, son père est mort by Soufiane Adel
- MAN by Myna Joseph
- Mes copains by Louis Garrel
- Muro by Tião
- Sagan om den lille Dockpojken by Johannes Nyholm
- Summer Afternoon by Wi-ding Ho
- Vsakdan ni vsak dan by Martin Turk
Awards
Official awards
The following films and people received the 2008 Official selection awards:- Palme d'Or: The Class by Laurent Cantet
- Grand Prix: Gomorra by Matteo Garrone
- Best Director Award: Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Three Monkeys
- Best Screenplay Award: Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne for Lorna's Silence
- Best Actress Award: Sandra Corveloni in Linha de Passe
- Best Actor Award: Benicio del Toro in Che
- Jury Prize: Paolo Sorrentino for Il Divo
- Special Prize of the Festival: Catherine Deneuve and Clint Eastwood
- Prix Un Certain Regard: Tulpan by Sergey Dvortsevoy
- Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize: Tokyo Sonata by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- Heart Throb Jury Prize: Cloud 9 by Andreas Dresen
- Knockout Prize: Tyson by James Toback
- Prize of Hope: Johnny Mad Dog by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
- First Prize: Himnon by Elad Keidan
- Second Prize: Forbach by Claire Burger
- Third Prize: Stop by Park Jae-Ok & Kestomerkitsijät by Juho Kuosmanen
- Caméra d'Or: Hunger by Steve McQueen
- Caméra d'Or - Special mention: Everybody Dies But Me by Valeriya Gai Germanika
- Short Film Palme d'Or: Megatron by Marian Crişan
- Jury Prize: Jerrycan by Julius Avery
Independent awards
- Hunger by Steve McQueen
- Eldorado by Bouli Lanners
- Delta by Kornél Mundruczó
- Vulcan Award: Il Divo by Paolo Sorrentino
- Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: Adoration by Atom Egoyan
- Critics Week Grand Prize: Snow by Aida Begić
- SACD Award: Moscow, Belgium by Christophe Van Rompaey
- ACID/CCAS Award: Moscow, Belgium by Christophe Van Rompaey
- OFAJ/TV5MONDE Young Critics Award: Blood Appears by Pablo Fendrik
- Canal+ Gran Prix for short film: Next Floor by Denis Villeneuve
- Kodak Discovery Award for Best Short Film: Skhizein by Jérémy Clapin
- Regards Jeunes Prize: Everybody Dies But Me by Valeriya Gai Germanika
- Prix François Chalais: Wild Blood by Marco Tullio Giordana