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, French film The Class, directed by Laurent Cantet, was awarded with the Palme.[3][4]

2008 Cannes Film Festival
Official poster of the 61st Cannes Film Festival featuring a photo of model Anouk Marguerite and photographed by Pierre Collier.[1]
Opening filmBlindness
Closing filmWhat Just Happened
LocationCannes, France
Founded1946
AwardsPalme d'Or: The Class
Hosted byÉdouard Baer
No. of films22 (En Competition)[2]
20 (Un Certain Regard)
8 (Out of Competition)
17 (Cinéfondation)
7 (Special screening)
9 (Short Film)
Festival date14 May 2008 (2008-05-14) – 25 May 2008 (2008-05-25)
Websitefestival-cannes.com/en
Cannes Film Festival

The festival opened with Blindness, directed by Fernando Meirelles[5] and closed with What Just Happened, directed by Barry Levinson.[6] Édouard Baer was the master of ceremonies.[7] Hunger, directed by Steve McQueen, opened the Un Certain Regard section.[8]

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.[9][10] 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

Sean Penn, President of the 2008 Feature film Jury

Main competition

The following people were appointed as the Jury for the feature films of the 2008 Official Selection:[11]

Un Certain Regard

Cinefondation and Short Films Competition

Caméra d'Or

Official selection

In Competition

The following feature films competed for the Palme d'Or:[2]

English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country
24 City二十四城记/二十四城記Jia ZhangkeChina
AdorationAtom EgoyanCanada
BlindnessFernando MeirellesBrazil, Canada, Japan
ChangelingClint EastwoodUnited States
Che (Part I: The Argentine and Part II: Guerilla)Steven SoderberghSpain, Germany, France, United States
A Christmas TaleUn conte de NoëlArnaud DesplechinFrance
The ClassEntre les mursLaurent CantetFrance
DeltaKornél MundruczóHungary
Il DivoPaolo SorrentinoItaly
Frontier of the DawnLa frontière de l'aubePhilippe GarrelFrance
GomorrahGomorraMatteo GarroneItaly
The Headless WomanLa mujer sin cabezaLucrecia MartelArgentina, Spain, France, Italy
Lion's DenLeoneraPablo TraperoArgentina, South Korea, Brazil, Spain
Linha de PasseWalter Salles and Daniela ThomasBrazil
My MagicEric KhooSingapore
Palermo ShootingWim WendersGermany, France, Italy
ServiceSerbisBrillante MendozaPhilippines, France
Lorna's SilenceLe silence de LornaJean-Pierre and Luc DardenneBelgium, Italy, Germany
Synecdoche, New YorkCharlie KaufmanUnited States
Three MonkeysÜç MaymunNuri Bilge CeylanTurkey
Two LoversJames GrayUnited States
Waltz with Bashirואלס עם באשירAri FolmanIsrael, Germany, France

Un Certain Regard

The following films were selected for the competition of Un Certain Regard:[2]

English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country
AfterschoolAntonio CamposUnited States
HungerSteve McQueenIreland, United Kingdom
InvoluntaryDe ofrivilligaRuben ÖstlundSweden
I Want to SeeJe veux voirJoana Hadjithomas and Khalil JoreigeFrance, Lebanon
Johnny Mad DogJean-Stéphane SauvaireFrance, Belgium, Liberia
The Dead Girl's FeastA Festa da Menina MortaMatheus NachtergaeleBrazil
Los BastardosAmat EscalanteMexico, France, United States
Modern LifeLa Vie moderneRaymond DepardonFrance
Ocean Flame一半海水,一半火燄Fendou LiuHong Kong
O' HortenBent HamerNorway, France, Germany, Denmark
Parking停車Chung Mong-HongTaiwan
Salt of this Seaملح هذا البحرAnnemarie JacirPalestine, France, Israel, United States, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland
Soi CowboyซอยคาวบอยThomas ClayThailand, United Kingdom
Tokyo!Michel Gondry, Leos Carax and Bong Joon-hoFrance, Japan, South Korea, Germany
Tokyo SonataトウキョウソナタKiyoshi KurosawaJapan
TulpanТюльпанSergey DvortsevoyKazakhstan, Germany
TysonJames TobackUnited States
VersaillesPierre SchoellerFrance
Wendy and LucyKelly ReichardtUnited States
Cloud 9Wolke NeunAndreas DresenGermany

Out of Competition

The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:[12][2]

Special Screenings

The following films were selected for the Special Screenings:[13][2]

Cinéfondation

The following short films were selected for the competition of Cinéfondation:[2]

  • August 15th (Ba yue shi wu) by Jiang Xuan
  • Blind Spot by Johanna Bessiere, Nicolas Chauvelot, Olivier Clert, Cécile Dubois Herry, Yvon Jardel, Simon Rouby
  • El Reloj (The Watch) by Marco Berger
  • Et dans mon coeur j'emporterai (And I’ll Keep in My Heart) by Yoon Sung-A
  • Forbach by Claire Burger
  • Gata by Diana Mkrtchyan
  • Gestern In Eden (The Other Day In Eden) by Jan Speckenbach
  • Himnon (Anthem) by Elad Keidan
  • Illusion Dwellers by Robb Ellender
  • Interior. Scara de Bloc (Interior. Bloc of Flats Hallway) by Ciprian Alexandrescu
  • Kestomerkitsijät (Roadmarkers) by Juho Kuosmanen
  • Naus by Lukás Glaser
  • O som e o resto (Sound and the Rest) by André Lavaquial
  • Shtika (Silence) 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

The following short films competed for the Short Film Palme d'Or:[2]

Cannes Classics

Cannes Classics places the spotlight on documentaries about cinema[14] and restored masterworks from the past.[15]

Tributes

Documentaries about Cinema

  • Il était une fois...Lawrence d'Arabie by Anne Kunvari (2008)
  • La Collection Cinéma cinémas by Claude Ventura (2008)
  • No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos by James Chressanthis (2008)
  • The Mystery of Samba (O mistério do Samba) by Jabor Carolina, Buarque De Hollanda Lula (2008)

Restored prints

Parallel sections

International Critics' Week

The following films were screened for the 47th International Critics' Week (47e Semaine de la Critique):[17]

Feature film competition

Short film competition

  • A espera (L’attente) by Fernanda Teixeira (Brazil)
  • Ahendu nde sapukai by Pablo Lamar (Argentina, Paraguay)
  • Ergo by Géza M. Tóth (Hungary)
  • La Copie de Coralie by Nicolas Engel (France)
  • Next Floor by Denis Villeneuve (Canada)
  • Nosebleed by Jeff Vespa (United States)
  • Skhizein by Jérémy Clapin (France)

Special screenings

Short films
  • Areia (Sand) by Caetano Gotardo (Brazil)
  • La Résidence Ylang Ylang by Hachimiya Ahamada (France, Comores)
  • L’ondée by David Coquard-Dassault (France, Canada)
  • Beyond the Mexique Bay by Jean-Marc Rousseau Ruiz (France, Mexico)
Prix de la Critique
  • Taxi Wala by Lola Frederich (France)
  • Graffiti by Vano Burduli (Georgia)
  • Les Filles de feu by Jean-Sébastien Chauvin (France)
  • Les Paradis Perdus by Hélier Cisterne (France)
  • Young Man Falling (Ung and falder) by Martin De Thurah (Denmark)
  • A Relationship in Four Days by Peter Glanz (United States)

Directors' Fortnight

The following films were screened for the 2008 Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalizateurs):[18]

Feature films

Special screenings

Short films

  • The Acquaintances of a Lonely John by Benny Safdie
  • Ciel éteint! by F. J. Ossang [fr]
  • 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

Official Awards

Laurent Cantet, winner of the 2008 Palme d'Or
Matteo Garrone, winner of the 2008 Grand Prix
Director Clint Eastwood at the festival promoting Changeling

In Competition

The following films and people received the 2008 Official selection awards:[19][3]

Un Certain Regard

Cinéfondation

Caméra d'Or

Short Films Competition

Independent Awards

FIPRESCI Prizes

Vulcan Award of the Technical Artist

Prize of the Ecumenical Jury

International Critics' Week

Regards Jeunes Prize

Prix François Chalais

References

External links