2008 Cannes Film Festival


The 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2008. American actor and filmmaker Sean Penn served as jury president for the main competition. French filmmaker Laurent Cantet won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the drama film The Class.
The festival opened with Blindness by Fernando Meirelles and closed with What Just Happened by Barry Levinson. Édouard Baer was the master of ceremonies.
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.

Juries

Main competition

''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:

''Un Certain Regard''

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

Out of Competition

The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:

Special Screenings

The following films were selected for the Special Screenings:

Cinéfondation

The following short films were selected for the competition of 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 Films Competition

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

Cannes Classics

The following films were selected for the Cannes Classics section:

Parallel sections

Critics' Week

The following films were screened for the 47th International Critics' Week :

Directors' Fortnight

The following films were screened for the 2008 Directors' Fortnight :
Feature films
Special screenings
Short films
  • The Acquaintances of a Lonely John by Benny Safdie
  • Ciel éteint! by
  • 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

In Competition

The following films and people received the 2008 Official selection awards:

''Un Certain Regard''

''Cinéfondation''

''[Caméra d'Or]''

Short Films Competition

Independent Awards

FIPRESCI Prizes">FIPRESCI">FIPRESCI Prizes

Vulcan Award of the Technical Artist">Vulcan Award">Vulcan Award of the Technical Artist

[Prize of the Ecumenical Jury]

International Critics' Week

Regards Jeunes Prize

Everybody Dies But Me by Valeriya Gai Germanika

[Prix François Chalais]