Beyond the Mexique Bay

The 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2008. American actor and filmmaker Sean Penn served as jury president for the main competition. French filmmaker Laurent Cantet won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the drama film The Class. The festival opened with Blindness by Fernando Meirelles and closed with What Just Happened by Barry Levinson. Édouard Baer was the master of ceremonies. The British press reported the list of films in competition this year was notable for its absence of British films for the second successive year.