2008 Cannes Film Festival 2008 Cannes Film Festival The 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 14 to 25 May 2008. The President of the Official Jury was American actor and director Sean Penn. Twenty two films from fourteen countries were selected to compete for the "Palme d'Or". The awards were announced on 24 May. The film "The Class" ("Entre les murs"), directed by Laurent Cantet won the "Palme d'Or". The festival opened with "Blindness", directed by Fernando Meirelles and closed with "What Just Happened", directed by Barry Levinson. Édouard Baer was the master of ceremonies. "Hunger", directed by Steve McQueen, opened the
Cannes Film Festival attention the festival receives is journalistic in nature, the festival has been explored from the standpoint of fiction by novelists over the years. J. G. Ballard’s Super-Cannes is about the European elite who live in a closed society by the festival. Michael Grothaus’ Epiphany Jones is a social satire about the festival and film industry and explores sex trafficking that occurs during the festival. The book was named on of the best Hollywood novels of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Iain Johnstone’s "Cannes: The Novel" is a dystopian tale about terrorists holding the festival hostage. In addition to fictional works,