Denys Arcand's TheBarbarian Invasions won theToronto-City Award for Best Canadian Feature Film and Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi won the AGF People's Choice Award as the 28thToronto International Film Festival wrapped after ten trouble-free days.
The Discovery Award,selected by the press corps, went to Rhinoceros Eyes, a US-financed effort directed by Toronto filmmakerAaron Woodley.
The FIPRESCI Prize,presented to a film directed by an emerging filmmaker and making its worldpremiere at Toronto, went to Spanish director Achero Manas for November, which screens in competition at San Sebastian laterthis month.
The winner of the CitytvAward for Best Canadian First Feature Film was Sudz Sutherland's Love, SexAnd Eating The Bones, whichThinkFilm is handling in the US and Canada.
Runners-up for the audienceprize were two Canadian documentaries, Ron Mann's Go Further, a chronicle of actor-activist Woody Harrelson, andMark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott's The Corporation, a film that explores the most dominant expressionof capitalism.
The Award for Best CanadianShort Film went to Montreal filmmaker Constant Mentzas for Aspiration.
For Arcand, the top Canadianprize completed a circle started in 1986, when the The Decline Of TheAmerican Empire, of which BarbarianInvasions is a kind of sequel, won the same award - although the purse has sinceincreased from C$15,000 to C$30,000.
Accepting the prize at theawards brunch Sunday, the Montreal-based Arcand complimented the Torontofestival and told the heavily partisan assembly, "You don't know how lucky youare" - a reference to the controversy-plagued Montreal World Film Festival.
Festival director PiersHandling said the festival had surpassed all expectations, particularly inlight of the earlier SARS scare many feared would keep filmmakers and talentaway.
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