28th Berlin International Film Festival
The 28th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 22 February to 5 March 1978. Director Wolf Donner successfully managed to shift the festival's date from June to February, a change which has remained ever since. This was the first year the festival was held in February. The festival opened with "Opening Night" by John Cassavetes and closed with Steven Spielberg's out of competition film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". The jury awarded the Golden Bear to Spain for its contribution to the festival. The three Spanish films which were screened  at the festival and won it were short film "Ascensor" directed by Tomás Muñoz and feature films "La palabras de Max" by Emilio Martínez Lázaro and "Las truchas" by José Luis García Sánchez. A new section for children was introduced at the festival. The "Part 2" of the retrospective dedicated to West German actress Marlene Dietrich was shown at the festival as well as the retrospective called "Censorship – Banned German Films 1933-1945". Jury. The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival: Films in competition. The following films were in competition for the Golden Bear  award: Retrospective. The following films were shown in the retrospective dedicated to Marlene Dietrich (Part 2): Awards. The following prizes were awarded by the Jury: