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 What Max Said 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".

Juries
The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:

Main Competition

 * Patricia Highsmith, American writer - Jury President
 * Sergio Leone, Italian filmmaker and producer
 * Theodoros Angelopoulos, Greek filmmaker and producer
 * Jacques Rozier, French filmmaker
 * Konrad Wolf, East-German filmmaker
 * Frieda Grafe, West-German essayist and film critic
 * Antonio Eceiza, Spanish filmmaker
 * Ana Carolina Teixeira Soares, Brazilian filmmaker
 * Larisa Shepitko, Soviet filmmaker

Main Competition
The following films were in competition for the Golden Bear award:

Out of competition

 * Close Encounters of the Third Kind, directed by Steven Spielberg (United States)
 * Il prefetto di ferro, directed by Pasquale Squitieri (Italy)
 * Sextette, directed by Ken Hughes (United States)
 * The Last Wave, directed by Peter Weir (Australia)

Retrospective
The following films were shown in the retrospective dedicated to Marlene Dietrich (Part 2):

Official Awards
The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:
 * Golden Bear:
 * What Max Said by Emilio Martínez Lázaro
 * Las truchas by José Luis García Sánchez
 * Ascensor by Tomás Muñoz (short film)
 * Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize: A Queda by Ruy Guerra, Nelson Xavier
 * Silver Bear for Best Director: Georgi Djulgerov for Advantage
 * Silver Bear for Best Actress: Gena Rowlands for Opening Night
 * Silver Bear for Best Actor: Craig Russell for Outrageous!
 * Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contribution:
 * Death of a President by Jerzy Kawalerowicz
 * The Teacher by Octavio Cortázar
 * Special Recognition: Germany in Autumn

FIPRESCI Award

 * My Father's Happy Years by Sándor Simó