"Life Show," a Chinese film based on the popular novel by Chi Li, was the big winner at Sunday night's closing ceremony for the 6th Shanghai International Film Festival.
Director Huo Jianqi took home the Golden Cup, awarded to the best film, while the movie also won awards for best cinematography, presented to Sun Ming, and best actress for Tao Hong.
The film tells the story of a beautiful, single woman who runs a restaurant in inland China, delving into her battle to understand the rapid changes affecting society around her.
Australian director David Caesar was named best director for his movie "Mullet" while the award for best screenplay went to Kyung-Jung Ju of South Korea for "A Little Monk."
Japanese director Iwai Shunji picked up an award for best music and a special jury award for his film "All About Lily Chou Chou."
The best actor award went to Colin Farrell who starred in Hart's War, an American movie about life in a World War II prisoner of war camp that also starred Bruce Willis.
The nine-day festival, which kicked off on June 8, included nearly 165 movies, with 14 films officially entered in competition.
The jury was led by Li Qiankuan, a Chinese filmmaker known for his political movies including "Chongqing Negotiation."
Other members of the jury included Geoffrey Gilmore, director of the Sundance Film Festival, and Quebec filmmaker Francois Girard, best known for "Red Violin."
The festival is one of the world's nine Grade-A film festivals - putting it on the same level as festivals in Cannes, Berlin and Venice.
(eastday.com June 17, 2002)
