Egyptian film maker Ibrahim El Batout's Eye Of The Sun (Ein Shams) won the Golden Tauro for best film atSicily's Taormina Film Festival.

The film was part of the festival's main 'Mediterranean' competition section.

Eye Of The Sun, El Batout's second film focuses on a taxi driver named Ramadan whose routes through the city force him to compare Egypt's contemporary decline with its ancient days of splendour.

The special jury prize for best director in the Mediterranean competition was awarded to first-time Turkish director Seyfi Teoman for Summer Book (Tatil Kitabi).

Set in a quiet Mediterranean town, the film delves into the passions and disillusions of the locals, including Ali, the film's child protagonist who is unable to defend himself from a class bully.

The prize for the best performance (either male or female) was awarded to actress Tanja Ribic for her role as Silvija, the eccentric love interest in the film Tractor, Love And Rock n' Roll (Traktor, Ljubezen, In Rock N'Roll) by Slovenian actor-director Branko Djuric about the effect 'Rolling Stones' style rock music had on a rural Slovenian town in the 1960s.

Bab Al Samah by film-maker Francesco Sperandeo received the Intel Centrino award for the best Sicilian short film sponsored by New Italian Cinema Events (N.I.C.E.).

The Taormina Film Fest wrapped its 54th edition under the direction of Deborah Young with a concert dedicated to music from Italian cinema and performed by the Corallo Conservatory Symphony in Taormina's ancient Greek-Roman theatre.

Under Young who took over the festival last year, Taormina aims to use its Southern Mediterranean location as a hub for Mediterranean film makers and this year's edition offered a focus on Turkish cinema and culture.

The jury was composed of Turkish director Ferzan Ozpetek (president), Mirsad Purivatra, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival, Jytte Jensen, curator of cinema at New York's (MOMA) Museum of Modern Art and French actress Elsa Zylberstein.

Topics