# 65th Venice International Film Festival

The 65th annual Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, was opened on 27 August 2008 by Burn After Reading, and closed on 6 September 2008. International competition jury, led by Wim Wenders, awarded Golden Lion to The Wrestler, directed by Darren Aronofsky.
Most of the films at the festival were world premieres. Featured in the 65th film festival was a restored version of Federico Fellini's 1952 comedy The White Sheik with forty minutes of newly discovered footage. Films screened out of competition included 35 Shots of Rum by Claire Denis, Abbas Kiarostami's Shirin, and an autobiographical documentary by Agnès Varda. The record for the longest film at the festival went to Philippine director Lav Diaz's Melancholia, with a running time of approximately seven and a half hours, and which was included in the Orizzonti competition section.
77-year-old Italian film director Ermanno Olmi received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. The festival was dedicated to the late Egyptian director Youssef Chahine, who was notable for his contributions to Arab cinema. The festival's shorts competition began 1 September 2008 with Natalie Portman's directorial debut, Eve. Kseniya Rappoport was the host of the opening and closing ceremonies.

## Juries

The international juries of the 65th Venice International Film Festival were composed as follows:

### Main Competition (Venezia 65)

* Wim Wenders, German filmmaker, playwright, author and photographer - Jury President
* Yuri Arabov, Russian screenwriter, writer, poet and educator
* Valeria Golino, Italian actress and director
* Douglas Gordon, Scottish artist
* John Landis, American filmmaker, actor and producer
* Lucrecia Martel, Argentine filmmaker, and producer
* Johnnie To, Hong Kong director and producer

### Horizons (Orizzonti)

* Chantal Akerman, Belgian filmmaker, artist and professor of film - Jury President
* Nicole Brenez, French historian, theoretician and professor of cinema
* Barbara Cupisti, Italian documentary director and actress
* José Luis Guerín, Spanish filmmaker and educator
* Veiko Õunpuu, Estonian filmmaker

### Opera Prima ("Luigi de Laurentis" Award for a Debut Film)

* Abdellatif Kechiche, Tunisian-French actor, and filmmaker - Jury President
* Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
* Gregory Jacobs, American director, producer and screenwriter
* Donald Ranvaud, British producer and film journalist
* Heidrun Schleef, Italian screenwriter and producer

## Official Sections
### In Competition

The competitive section of the official selection is an international competition of feature films in 35mm and digital HD format running for the Golden Lion.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Achilles and the Tortoise | アキレスと亀 | Takeshi Kitano | Japan |
| Birdwatchers | La terra degli uomini rossi | Marco Bechis | Italy |
| The Burning Plain | The Burning Plain | Guillermo Arriaga | United States |
| Giovanna's Father | Il papà di Giovanna | Pupi Avati | Italy |
| The Hurt Locker | The Hurt Locker | Kathryn Bigelow | United States |
| Inju: The Beast in the Shadow | Inju, la bête dans l'ombre | Barbet Schroeder | France |
| Inland | Gabbla | Tariq Teguia | Algeria, France |
| Jerichow | Jerichow | Christian Petzold | Germany |
| Milk | Süt | Semih Kaplanoglu | Turkey, France, Germany |
| The Other One | L’Autre | Patrick Mario Bernard, Pierre Trividic | France |
| Paper Soldier | Бумажный солдат | Aleksei German | Russia |
| A Perfect Day | Un giorno perfetto | Ferzan Özpetek | Italy |
| Plastic City | 荡寇 | Yu Lik-wai | Brazil, China, China（Hong Kong）, Japan |
| Ponyo | 崖の上のポニョ | Hayao Miyazaki | Japan |
| Rachel Getting Married | Rachel Getting Married | Jonathan Demme | United States |
| The Seed of Discord | Il seme della discordia | Pappi Corsicato | Italy |
| The Sky Crawlers | スカイ·クロラ | Mamoru Oshii | Japan |
| Teza | ጤዛ | Haile Gerima | Ethiopia, Germany, France |
| This Night | Nuit de Chien | Werner Schroeter | France, Germany, Portugal |
| Vegas: Based on a True Story | Vegas: Based on a True Story | Amir Naderi | United States |
| The Wrestler | The Wrestler | Darren Aronofsky | United States, France |
    Highlighted title indicates the Golden Lion winner.

### Out of Competition

New works by directors who have been honored in past festivals, as well as movies shown in the midnight time band.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Feature films ||||
| 35 Shots of Rum | 35 Rhums | Claire Denis | France, Germany |
| The Beaches of Agnès | Les Plages d'Agnes | Agnès Varda | France |
| Burn After Reading (opening film) | Burn After Reading (opening film) | Joel and Ethan Coen | United States |
| Embodiment of Evil | Encarnação do Demônio | Jose Mojica Marins | Brazil |
| Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit | ギララの逆襲／洞爺湖サミット危機一発 | Minoru Kawasaki | Japan |
| Puccini and the Girl | Puccini e la fanciulla | Paolo Benvenuti | Italy |
| Queens of Langkasuka | ปืนใหญ่จอมสลัด | Nonzee Nimibutr | Thailand |
| Shirin | شیرین | Abbas Kiarostami | Iran |
| Vinyan | Vinyan | Fabrice Du Welz | France, United Kingdom, Belgium |
| Short films ||||
| Do Visível ao Invisível | Do Visível ao Invisível | Manoel de Oliveira | Brazil, Portugal |
| Cry Me a River | 河上的爱情 | Jia Zhangke | China, Spain, France |
| Vicino al Colosseo c’è Monti | Vicino al Colosseo c’è Monti | Mario Monicelli | Italy |
| Special Event ||||
| Yuppi du | Yuppi du | Adriano Celentano | Italy |
| Events ||||
| Bajo el signo de las sombras (1984) | Bajo el signo de las sombras (1984) | Ferrán Alberich | Spain |
| Bicycle Thieves (1948) | Ladri di biciclette | Vittorio De Sica | Italy |
| Cairo Station (1958) | باب الحديد | Youssef Chahine | Egypt, France |
| Life in Shadows (1947) | Vida en Sombras | Lorenzo Llbobet Gracia | Spain |
| Orfeus 9 (1975) | Orfeo 9 | Tito Schipa Jr. | Italy |
| La rabbia di Pasolini (2008) | La rabbia di Pasolini (2008) | Pier Paolo Pasolini, Giuseppe Bertolucci | Italy |
| Takadanobaba Duel (1937) | Kettô Takadanobaba | Masahiro Makino, Hiroshi Inagaki | Japan |
| Tutto è musica (1963) | Tutto è musica (1963) | Domenico Modugno | Italy |
| Nel blu dipinto di blu - Volare (1959) | Nel blu dipinto di blu - Volare (1959) | Piero Tellini | Italy |

### Horizons (Orizzonti)

The following films were selected for the Horizons (Orizzonti) section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| In Competition ||||
| The First Day of Winter | Il primo giorno d’inverno | Mirko Locatelli | Italy |
| Goodbye Solo | Goodbye Solo | Ramin Bahrani | United States |
| The Herb of the Rat | A Erva do Rato | Julio Bressane | Brazil |
| I'm Gonna Explode | Voy a explotar | Gerardo Naranjo | Mexico |
| Jay | Jay | Francis Xavier Pasion | Philippines |
| Un lac | Un lac | Philippe Grandrieux | France |
| Melancholia | Melancholia | Lav Diaz | Philippines |
| Pa-ra-da | Pa-ra-da | Marco Pontecorvo | Italy, France, Romania |
| Parc | Parc | Arnaud des Pallières | France |
| Perfect Life | 完美生活 | Emily Tang | China, China（Hong Kong） |
| Khastegi | خستگی | Bahman Motamedian | Iran |
| Wild Field | Дикое поле | Mikheil Kalatozishvili | Russia |
| Zero Bridge | Zero Bridge | Tariq Tapa | India, United States |
| Documentaries ||||
| Below Sea Level | Below Sea Level | Gianfranco Rosi | Italy, United States |
| L'Exil et le royaume | L'Exil et le royaume | Andreο Schtakleff, Jonathan Le Fourn | France |
| Los Herederos | Los Herederos | Eugenio Polgovsky | Mexico |
| In Paraguay | In Paraguay | Ross McElwee | United States |
| Puisque nous sommes nés | Puisque nous sommes nés | Jean-Pierre Duret, Andréa Santana | France, Brazil |
| Women | Women | Huang Wenhai | China, Switzerland |
| Z32 | Z32 | Avi Mograbi | Israel, France |
| Horizons Events ||||
| Antonioni su Antonioni | Antonioni su Antonioni | Carlo Di Carlo | Italy |
| La fabbrica dei tedeschi | La fabbrica dei tedeschi | Mimmo Calopresti | Italy |
| Soltanto un nome nei titoli di testa | Soltanto un nome nei titoli di testa | Daniele Di Biasio | Italy |
| ThyssenKrupp Blues | ThyssenKrupp Blues | Pietro Balla, Monica Repetto | Italy |
| Valentino: The Last Emperor | Valentino: The Last Emperor | Matt Tyrnauer | United States |
| Venezia '68 | Venezia '68 | Antonello Sarno, Steve Della Casa | Italy |
| Verso Est | Verso Est | Laura Angiulli | Italy, Bosnia |
    Highlighted titles indicate the Horizons Awards for Best Film and Best Documentary respectively.

### Short Film Competition (Corto Cortissimo)

The following films were selected for the Short film competition (Corto Cortissimo) section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| In competition ||||
| 1937 | 1937 | Giacomo Gatti, Francesco Carrozzini | United States, Italy, France |
| The Altruists | De onbaatzuchtigen | Koen Dejaegher | Belgium |
| Ashes Engagement | Noces de cendre | Pierre Eden Simon | Belgium |
| The Butcher’s Shop | The Butcher’s Shop | Philip Haas | United States |
| Corpus/Corpus | Corpus/Corpus | Christophe Loizillon | France |
| The Dinner | Vacsora | Karchi Perlmann | Hungary |
| Every Breath You Take | Vdih (working title) | Igor Sterk | Slovenia |
| I Don't Dream in German | Ich träume nicht auf Deutsch | Ivana Lalovic | Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| I’m in Away from Here | I’m in Away from Here | Catriona MacInnes | United Kingdom |
| Land and Bread | Tierra y Pan | Carlos Armella | Mexico |
| Lies | Lögner | Jonas Odell | Sweden |
| Mine | 我的 | Liu Hui | China |
| Sand | Zand | Joost Van Ginkel | Netherlands |
| The Second Coming | Teine tulemine | Tanel Toom | Estonia |
| The Stars Don't Twinkle in Outer Space | The Stars Don't Twinkle in Outer Space | Peter Thwaites | United Kingdom |
| Ten | Dix | Bif | France, United Kingdom |
| We Who Stayed Behind | Vi der blev tilbage | Martin de Thurah | Denmark |
| When I’m 20 | Khi toi 20 | Dang Di Phan | Vietnam |
| Out of competition ||||
| Eve (Opening film) | Eve (Opening film) | Natalie Portman | United States |
| Jarred (Closing film) | Jarred (Closing film) | Martin Gaiss | United States |
| Alba | Alba | Giorgia Farina | Italy |
| Il colore della Bassa | Il colore della Bassa | Giuseppe Morandi | Italy |
| Un canto lontano | Un canto lontano | Alberto Momo | Italy |
| Managua Boxing | Managua Boxing | Frediana Fornari | Italy |
    Highlighted title indicates Lion for Best Short Film winner.

### These Phantoms: Italian Cinema Rediscovered (1946-1975)

Retrospective screenings and restorations. Special mono-graphic sessions dedicated to the "secret story of Italian cinema". This is the fifth part of the retrospective, initiated at the 61st edition of the festival.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) |
| Fiction |||
| Agostino (1962) | Agostino (1962) | Mauro Bolognini |
| Arcana (1972) | Arcana (1972) | Giulio Questi |
| La bella di Lodi (1963) | La bella di Lodi (1963) | Mario Missiroli |
| City of Pain (1949) | La città dolente | Mario Bonnard |
| The City Stands Trial (1952) | Processo alla città | Luigi Zampa |
| Difficult Years (1948) | Anni difficili | Luigi Zampa |
| The Doll That Took the Town (1956) | La donna del giorno | Francesco Maselli |
| The Earth Cries Out (1949) | Il grido della terra | Duilio Coletti |
| Fire! (1968) | Fuoco! | Gian Vittorio Baldi |
| Flashback (1969) | Flashback (1969) | Raffaele Andreassi |
| A Girl... and a Million (1962) | La cuccagna | Luciano Salce |
| Leoni al sole (1961) | Leoni al sole (1961) | Vittorio Caprioli |
| Letter at Dawn (1948) | Una lettera all’alba | Giorgio Bianchi |
| The Lizards (1963) | I basilischi | Lina Wertmüller |
| A New World (1964) | Un monde nouveau | Vittorio De Sica |
| Oh, Grandmother's Dead (1969) | Toh è Morta la Nonna | Mario Monicelli |
| Opiate '67 (1963) | I Mostri | Dino Risi |
| Our Lady of the Turks (1968) | Nostra Signora dei Turchi | Carmelo Bene |
| Paris, My Love (1962) | Parigi o cara | Vittorio Caprioli |
| Pelle Viva | Pelle Viva | Giuseppe Fina |
| Revenge (1946) | Un uomo ritorna | Max Neufeld |
| The Sky Is Red (1950) | Il cielo è rosso | Claudio Gora |
| Smog (1963) | Smog (1963) | Franco Rossi |
| Violent Life (1962) | Una vita violenta | Paolo Heusch, Brunello Rondi |
| The White Sheik (1952) | Lo Sceicco Bianco | Federico Fellini |
| Documentaries and shorts |||
| E il Casanova di Fellini? (1975) | E il Casanova di Fellini? (1975) | Gianfranco Angelucci, Liliana Betti |
| Italia proibitac (1963) | Italia proibitac (1963) | Enzo Biagi |
| La Forza e la Ragione (1971) | La Forza e la Ragione (1971) | Roberto Rossellini |
| Mysteries of Rome (1963) | I misteri di Roma | (collective film) |
| Provini per "Il padre selvaggio" (1962) | Provini per "Il padre selvaggio" (1962) | Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| Spot Banca di Roma (1992) | Spot Banca di Roma (1992) | Federico Fellini |

## Autonomous sections
### Venice International Film Critics' Week

The following films were selected for the 23rd International Film Critics' Week:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| In competition ||||
| The Apprentice | L'apprenti | Samuel Collardey | France |
| Cucumber | Huanggua / Qing gua | Zhou Yaowu | China |
| Kabuli Kid | Kabuli Kid | Barmak Akram | France, Afghanistan |
| Mid-August Lunch | Pranzo di ferragosto | Gianni Di Gregorio | Italy |
| Nightguards | Čuvari noći | Namik Kabil | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Sell Out! | Sell Out! | Yeo Joonhan | Malaysia |
| Two Lines | Iki Çizgi | Selim Evci | Turkey |
| Out of competition ||||
| Cold Lunch (Opening film) | Lønsj | Eva Sørhaug | Norway |
| Pinuccio Lovero - Sogno di una morte di mezza estate (opening film) | Pinuccio Lovero - Sogno di una morte di mezza estate (opening film) | Pippo Mezzapesa | Italy |
    Highlighted title indicates the Lion Of The Future winner.

### Venice Days

The following films were selected for the 5th edition of Venice Days (Giornate Degli Autori) autonomous section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| In competition ||||
| One Day in a Life | Un altro pianeta | Stefano Tummolini | Italy |
| Broken Lines | Broken Lines | Sallie Aprahamian | United Kingdom |
| Machan | Machan | Uberto Pasolini | Sri Lanka, Italy, Germany |
| The Visitor | Muukalainen | Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää | Finland |
| Nowhere Man | (N)iemand | Patrice Toye | Belgium |
| Hooked | Pescuit sportiv | Adrian Sitaru | Romania |
| Landscape No. 2 | Pokrajina št. 2 | Vinko Möderndorfer | Slovenia |
| Scratch | Rysa | Michał Rosa | Poland |
| A Week Alone | Una semana solos | Celina Murga | Argentina |
| Stella | Stella | Sylvie Verheyde | France |
| The Country Teacher | Venkovský učitel | Bohdan Sláma | Czech Republic |
| Portraits (documentaries) ||||
| Che saccio | Che saccio | Camille d'Arcimoles | Italy |
| Il passato è il mio bastone | Il passato è il mio bastone | Flavia Mastrella, Antonio Rezza | Italy |
| Villa degli Autori – Open Space ||||
| Adius Piero Ciampi e altre storie | Adius Piero Ciampi e altre storie | Ezio Alovisi | Italy |
| Emilia Galotti: dal Settecento ad oggi | Emilia Galotti: dal Settecento ad oggi | Alessandro Berdini | Italy |
| Lo stato d’eccezione | Lo stato d’eccezione | Germano Maccioni | Italy |
| Un paese diverso | Un paese diverso | Silvio Soldini, Giorgio Garini | Italy |

## Official Awards

The following Official Awards were conferred at the 65th edition:

### In Competition (Venezia 65)

* Golden Lion: The Wrestler by Darren Aronofsky
* Silver Lion for Best Director: Aleksei German for Paper Soldier
* Special Jury Prize: Teza by Haile Gerima
* Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Silvio Orlando for Giovanna's Father
* Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Dominique Blanc for The Other One
* Marcello Mastroianni Award: Jennifer Lawrence for Burning Plain
* Golden Osella for Best Cinematography: Alisher Khamidhodjaev and Maxim Drozdov for Paper Soldier
* Golden Osella for Best Screenplay: Haile Gerima for Teza
* Special Lion: Werner Schroeter

### Horizons (Orizzonti)

* Best Film: Melancholia by Lav Diaz
* Best Documentary: Below Sea Level by Gianfranco Rosi
** Special Mention: Un Lac by Philippe Grandrieux & Women by Huang Wenhai

### Short Film Competition (Corto Cortissimo)

* Lion for Best Short Film: Tierra y Pan by Carlos Armella
** Special Mention: Vacsora by Karchi Perlmann
* U.I.P. Award for Best European Short: De onbaatzuchtigen by Koen Dejaegher

### Luigi De Laurentis Award For a Debut Film

* Mid-August Lunch by Gianni Di Gregorio

## Independent Sections Awards

The following official and collateral awards were conferred to films of the autonomous sections:

### Venice International Film Critics' Week

* Best Film: The Apprentice by Samuel Collardey
* Isvema Award for a debut or second feature film: Mid-August Lunch by Gianni Di Gregorio
* Doc/it Award – Special mention: The Apprentice by Samuel Collardey
* "Altre Visioni" Award: Sell Out! by Yeo Joon Han
* EIUC Human Rights Film Award: Kabuli Kid by Akram Barmak

### Venice Days (Giornate Degli Autori)

* Label Europa Cinemas Award: Machan by Uberto Pasolini
* Christopher D. Smithers Foundation Special Awards: Stella by Sylvie Verheyde
* FEDIC Award: Machan by Uberto Pasolini
* Lina Mangiacapre Award: Stella by Sylvie Verheyde

## Independent Awards

The following collateral awards were conferred to films of the official selection:

### FIPRESCI Award

* Best Film (Main competition): Gabbla by Tariq Teguia
* Best Film (Out of competition): Goodbye Solo by Ramin Bahrani

### SIGNIS Award

* The Hurt Locker by Kathryn Bigelow
** Special mention: Vegas: Based on a True Story by Amir Naderi & Teza by Haile Gerima

### Francesco Pasinetti Award (SNGCI)

* Best Film: Mid-August Lunch by Gianni Di Gregorio
** Special Mention: Pa-ra-da by Marco Pontecorvo (Out of competition)
* Best Actor: Silvio Orlando for Giovanna's Father
* Best Actress: Isabella Ferrari for Un giorno perfetto

### Doc/it Award – Sicilia Film Commission

* Below Sea Level by Gianfranco Rosi

### Leoncino d'oro Agiscuola Award

* Giovanna's Father by Pupi Avati

### Queer Lion

* One Day in a Life by Stefano Tummolini

### UNICEF Award

* Teza by Haile Gerima

### Art Cinema Award

* Dikoe Pole (Wild Field) by Mikheil Kalatozishvili

### La Navicella – Venezia Cinema Award

* The Hurt Locker by Kathryn Bigelow

### C.I.C.T. UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award

* BirdWatchers by Marco Bechis

### Biografilm Lancia Award

* Best Fiction Film: Rachel Getting Married by Jonathan Demme
* Best Documentary: Below Sea Level by Gianfranco Rosi

### Nazareno Taddei Award

* Giovanna's Father by Pupi Avati

### Don Gnocchi Award

* Pa-ra-da by Marco Pontecorvo
** Special mention: Ezio Greggio for Giovanna's Father

### Future Film Festival Digital Award

* The Sky Crawlers by Mamoru Oshii
** Special mention: Ponyo by Hayao Miyazaki

### Brian Award

* Khastegi by Bahman Motamedian

### Lanterna Magica Award (Cgs)

* Pa-ra-da by Marco Pontecorvo

### CinemAvvenire, Best Film in Competition

* Vegas: Based on a True Story by Amir Naderi
** "The circle is not round. Cinema for peace and the richness of diversity" Award: Teza by Haile Gerima

### Bastone Bianco Award (Filmcritica)

* Achilles and the Tortoise by Takeshi Kitano

### Human Rights Film Network Award

* The Hurt Locker by Kahryn Bigelow

### Arca Cinemagiovani Award

* Best Film: The Hurt Locker by Kathryn Bigelow
* Best Italian Film: Mid-August Lunch by Gianni Di Gregorio

### Air For Film Fest Award

* Pa-ra-da by Marco Pontecorvo

### "Poveri ma belli" Award

* Puccini e la fanciulla by Paolo Benvenuti

### Mimmo Rotella Foundation Award

* Ponyo by Hayao Miyazaki

### Open Award 2008

* The Butcher's Shop by Philip Haas