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

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.

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:

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