In its inaugural edition from 14 to 21 January 2008, the festival's main guest was Nikita Mikhalkov who held a workshop, along with a retrospective of his films being shown — 12, A Slave of Love, A Few Days from the Life of I. I. Oblomov, and An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano.

The ceremony featured Nele Karajlić as Orthodox priest, Kusturica as eulogist, girls from Vrelo as wailing women with even the main guest Nikita Mikhalkov joining the procession.

[2] The musical program consisted of performances by: Almezijan's Obsession from Armenia, Kal from Serbia, Stribor Kusturica & the Poisoners, Vrelo, No Smoking Orchestra, Nervozni Poštar, and Kiki Band.

She answers her own question by saying that, like Handke, Kusturica also believes western Europeans have demonized Serbs and Serbia, but that the Serbian director supports center-left candidate Tadić at the presidential elections.

On the music side of things, the festival featured performances by Zdob şi Zdub from Moldavia, Leb i sol, Haydamaky from Ukraine, Natty Bo and the Tom Cats from the United Kingdom, La Mano Ajena from Chile, the No Smoking Orchestra, and folklore ensemble Svetozar Marković.

The arrival of 46-year-old Depp, Kusturica's personal friend and one of the biggest and most bankable Hollywood movie stars at the moment, gave Küstendorf Festival its first taste of global media attention.

The musical program selected by Nele Karajlić included: Global Kryner from Austria, Aynur Doğan from Turkey, Os Festicultores Troupe from France, Vladimir Maričić Quartet, Rubl from Russia, Tonino Carotone from Spain, and the No Smoking Orchestra.

The 3-person jury presided by the Wild Bunch founder Vincent Maraval (with professor Iva Draškić Vićanović and producer Richard Brick rounding out the trio) awarded the Golden Egg to young Russian author Sonya Karpunina for The Chance.

The festival saw musical performances from: Beogradski Sindikat, Ngoma Africa Band from Tanzania, Manouchka Orkestär from France, Andre Williams, and Farmers Market from Norway.

[18] In January 2015, Malagurski spoke about the episode: "According to the information I was able to obtain, the person responsible for The Weight of Chains not being screened at Küstendorf is Nebojša Bradić, then culture minister and member of G17+, a political party the movie is critical of.

Monica Bellucci's 3-day stay at the festival, which Kusturica referred to as "the beautiful spice that captures attention",[36] created another wave of international media coverage similar to three years earlier when Johnny Depp visited.

The Italian actress' star power, glamorous image, and sex appeal generated media attention that by proxy also created publicity for the festival as well as for her just announced film with Kusturica tentatively titled Love and War.

[41] During the visit, Kusturica announced plans for a movie set during Bosnian War with Bellucci playing a Serbian woman, scheduled to begin shooting in May 2013 in Trebinje with Dodik and Republika Srpska authorities involved in financing.

[42] The next day, Serbian prime minister Ivica Dačić came to Drvengrad and had a photo-op visit arranged with the actress during which he gave her a reprint of the White Angel fresco from the Mileševa monastery.