58th Berlin International Film Festival

The 58th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 7 to February 17, 2008.^[2] The festival opened with Martin Scorsese's documentary film Shine a Light.^[3] Be Kind Rewind by Michel Gondry served as the closing film.^[4] Greek filmmaker Costa Gavras, was selected to serve as the Jury President for the main competition.^[5]

58th Berlin International Film Festival

Festival poster
Opening film	Shine a Light
Closing film	Be Kind Rewind
Location	Berlin, Germany
Founded	1951
Awards	Golden Bear: Elite Squad
No. of films	310 films[1]
Festival date	7–17 February 2008
Website	Website

The Golden Bear was awarded to Elite Squad directed by José Padilha.^[6] The retrospective dedicated to Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel was shown at the festival.^[7]

Juries

The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:^[8]

Main Competition

• Costa-Gavras, Greek filmmaker and producer - Jury President
• Uli Hanisch, German production designer
• Diane Kruger, German actress
• Walter Murch, American director and editor
• Shu Qi, Taiwanese actress and model
• Alexander Rodnyansky, Russian producer

Best First Feature Award Jury

• Ben Barenholtz, American producer and distributor
• Dominique Cabrera, French filmmaker
• Jasmila Žbanić, Bosnian filmmaker and producer

Short Film Competition Jury

• Marc Barbé, French actor and director
• Ada Solomon, Romanian producer
• Laura Tonke, German actress

Official Sections

Costa Gavras, Jury President

Main Competition

The following films were in competition for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards:^[1]

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production Country
Ballast		Lance Hammer	United States
Cherry Blossoms	Kirschblüten – Hanami	Doris Dörrie	Germany
Sparrow	文雀	Johnnie To	Hong Kong
Black Ice	Musta jää	Petri Kotwica	Finland, Germany
Elegy		Isabel Coixet	United States
Elite Squad	Tropa de Elite	José Padilha	Brazil
Gardens of the Night		Damian Harris	United States, United Kingdom
Happy-Go-Lucky		Mike Leigh	United Kingdom
Heart of Fire	Feuerherz	Luigi Falorni	Eritrea, Germany, United Kingdom
In Love We Trust	左右	Wang Xiaoshuai	China
I've Loved You So Long	Il y a longtemps que je t'aime	Philippe Claudel	France, Germany
Julia		Erick Zonca	France, United States, Mexico, Belgium
Kabei: Our Mother	母べえ	Yoji Yamada	Japan
Lady Jane		Robert Guédiguian	France
Lake Tahoe		Fernando Eimbcke	Mexico
Night and Day	밤과 낮	Sang-soo Hong	South Korea
Quiet Chaos	Caos calmo	Antonello Grimaldi	Italy
Restless		Amos Kollek	Israel, Germany
Standard Operating Procedure		Errol Morris	United States
The Song of Sparrows	آواز گنجشک‌ها	Majid Majidi	Iran
There Will Be Blood		Paul Thomas Anderson	United States

Official Awards

José Padilha, winner of the Golden Bear at the festival

The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:^[6][9]

Main Competition

• Golden Bear: Elite Squad by José Padilha

• Silver Bear Grand Prize of the Jury: Standard Operating Procedure by Errol Morris
• Silver Bear for Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood
• Silver Bear for Best Actor: Reza Naji for The Song of Sparrows
• Silver Bear for Best Actress: Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky
• Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Wang Xiaoshuai for In Love We Trust
• Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: Jonny Greenwood for There Will Be Blood (score)
• Alfred Bauer Prize: Fernando Eimbcke for Lake Tahoe

Independent Awards

FIPRESCI Award

• Fernando Eimbcke for Lake Tahoe

References

1. "PROGRAMME 2008". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
2. "58TH BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FEBRUARY 7 – 17, 2008". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
3. "Scorsese's "Shine A Light" to Open the 58th Berlinale". indiewire. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
4. "THE 58TH BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL COMES TO A SUCCESSFUL CLOSE: MUSIC, STARS AND GRAND EMOTIONS". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
5. "BERLINALE 2008: OSCAR WINNER COSTA-GAVRAS TO BE JURY PRESIDENT". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
6. "PRIZES & HONOURS 2008". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
7. "RETROSPECTIVE". Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
8. "JURIES 2008". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
9. "2008 Berlin Awards" (PDF). berlinale.de. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.

External links

• 58th Berlin International Film Festival 2008
• Yearbook 2008 at berlinale.de