| 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 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]
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]
The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival: [8]
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 | |
The following prizes were awarded by the Jury: [6] [9]