US director Courtney Hunt left Stockholm with 16lb excess luggage, as her feature debut, Frozen River, was awarded the Bronze Horse - the heavy grand prix - of the 19th Stockholm International Film Festival, which ended on Sunday (Nov 30).
The jury chaired over by Finnish veteran producer-director Jorn Donner
gave the prize to a film that treats 'a socially important subject with
unusual sensitivity.'
Frozen River,about border smuggling across the St Lawrence River, won the Grand Jury Prize in Sundance.
UK director Steve McQueen's Hungerpicked up theBest Directing Debut honour, and his lead actor, Michael Fassbender was named Best Actor.
The Best Actress award was given to Czech actress Zuzana Bydzovska, for her performance in Czech director Bohdan Sláma'sThe Country Teacher, which also cashed in for Best Cinematography (Divis Marek).
The Star! Audience Award went to Swedish director Ruben Östlund's Involuntary, hailed as the Sweden's best movie in 2008, which recently
bagged the Golden Iris in Brussels.
The film also took Stockholm's award for Best Original Screenplay (Östlund, Erik Hemmendorff).
Krister Lind won for Best Music (Swedish director Johan Renck's Downloading Nancy).
The international critics' FIPRESCI award was handed over to UK director Duane Hopkins, for Better Things.
The festival's own 1km of film footage prize for a new talent ended with Swedish director Alexandra Dahlström, for her Come Here.
Swedish actress Malin Crepin became the first recipient of the Rising Star prize, in association with l'Oreal.
Director Wong Kar-wai and UK-French actress Charlotte Rampling were in Stockholm to accept their Visionary and Lifetime Achievement awards, respectively.
Celebrity guests also included Italian author Roberto Saviano (Gomorrah) and Venezuelan Sundance winner Chusy Haney-Jardine
(Anywhere USA).
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