Chinese film "Weaving Girl" grabbed the second highest prize at the closing ceremony of the 33rd Montreal World Film Festival Monday.
"Weaving Girl," directed by Wang Quan'an and staring actress Yu Nan, tells about the struggling life of a textile factory woman worker. It won both the special Grand Prix of the Jury, the runner-up prize, as well as the International film critics prize.
The top prize, the Grand Prix of the Americas, was won by French director Tony Gatlif's "Korkoro" (Freedom), a film about a gypsy family fighting for freedom under the Nazi rule in France. It also received the public award for the most popular film, chosen by the audience.
The best actress award was awarded to Marie Leuenberger for her performance in Micha Lewinsky's "Die Standesbeamtin," from Switzerland, while the best actor trophy went to Cyron Melville for his star turn in Danish director Morten Giese's "Vangittig Forelsket."
Japanese director Kichitaro Negishi won the best director for "Viyon no Tsuma" (Villon's Wife), a big-screen adaptation of the Osamu Dazai novel.
The official documentary for 2008 Beijing Olympics, "The Everlasting Flame" was shown as the closing film. Festival director Serge Losique spoke highly of the film, saying it "shows a perfect mixture of cinema and sport."
Chief Director of the film Gu Jun responded by saying the honor goes to "my country, and all people around the world who love Olympics."
The Montreal World Film Festivals ran from Aug. 27 -- Sept. 7. About 400 films from 70 countries were shown during this time.
(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2009)
