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:
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.
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.
Horizons ("Orizzonti").
The following films were selected for the Horizons ("Orizzonti") section:
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:
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.
Autonomous sections.
Venice International Film Critics' Week.
The following films were selected for the 23rd International Film Critics' Week:
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:
Official Awards.
The following Official Awards were conferred at the 65th edition:
Independent Sections Awards.
The following official and collateral awards were conferred to films of the autonomous sections:
Independent Awards.
The following collateral awards were conferred to films of the official selection:
References.
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