Departures, the Japanese foreign Oscar winner, has taken the audience award at the 11th Far East Film Festival in Italy.

The non-competition festival, which is held in Udine in North East Italy, asked film-goers to vote for the award. South Korean comedy, Scandal Makers, took the second prize with Indonesian melodrama, The Rainbow Troops, in third place.

Departures tells the story of an out of work musician who makes an unlikely career change to become a funeral worker.

The festival, which closed on the May 1 bank holiday weekend, has also announced it will continue its tie-in with the Venice Film Festival. Venice will brand two films, which will show in the the Midnight (out-of-competition) screenings, as the Far East Film Festival.

Next year’s festival will be held between April 23 and May 1.

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