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.