65th Venice International Film Festival 65th Venice International Film Festival The 65th annual Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, was opened on August 27, 2008, by "Burn After Reading", and closed on September 6, 2008. International competition jury, led by Wim Wenders, awarded Leone d'Oro to "The Wrestler", directed by Darren Aronofsky. 77-year-old Italian film director Ermanno Olmi received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. The festival opened on August 27, 2008, with the highly anticipated film directed by the Coen brothers, "Burn After Reading". "Burn" is not running in the official competition and thus is ineligible to win any prizes, but reaction
2008 Toronto International Film Festival 2008 Toronto International Film Festival The 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This 33rd annual festival was from September 4 to September 13, 2008. The opening night gala was the World War I romantic epic "Passchendaele" from Canadian director Paul Gross. Festival is heavy on Canadian fare as well as featuring prominent indie films and worldwide and/or North American debuts including: "Adoration" directed by Canada's own Atom Egoyan, "Appaloosa" the second film from Ed Harris (who directed "Pollock"), "Blindness" from screenwriter-director, Fernando Meirelles, Iraq war thriller "The Hurt Locker" directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and