[1] The festival opened with the Indian director Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist,[2][3] and closed with the Out of Competition film The Man Who Laughs, directed by Jean-Pierre Ameris.

[4] Terrence Malick's film To the Wonder was met with both boos and cheers from critics at its premiere.

[5] The Golden Lion for Best Film was won by Pietà, directed by South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk.

[24][25][26] However, because of festival's new rule prohibiting pairing the Golden Lion with any other prizes, the jury was asked "to re-deliberate to remove" one of the awards for The Master, and the Golden Lion was awarded to Kim Ki-duk's Pietà instead.

[24][26] On the other hand, the jury was planned to award the Coppa Volpi for the Best Actress prize to Jo Min-su, who acted Jang Mi-sun in Pietà.