Turkish film wins top award in San Sebastian

One of the film's stars, 90-year-old French actress Tsilla Chelton, also jointly won the best actress award, for her role as a grandmother afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.She shared the prize with American Melissa Leo, who starred as a mother abandoned by her husband in "Frozen River," which won the top award at this year's Sundance Festival in the United States and had been among those tipped to take the Golden Shell.The jury, chaired by American director Jonathan Demme, gave the best director award to Britain's Michael Winterbottom for his film "Genova," starring Colin Firth as a man who moves to the Italian city of Genoa to start a new life with his two daughters.Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf's film "Two-legged Horse" took the festival jury's special prize.The best actor award went to Argentina's Oscar Martinez for his role in "El Nido Vacio" (The Empty Nest).The best cinematography award went to Hugo Colace for his camera work in "El Nido Vacio."Benoit Delphine and Gustave Kervern shared the award for best screenplay for the French movie "Louise-Michel."Nineteen films vied for San Sebastian awards at the 10-day festival held in the northern Basque coastal city facing the Bay of Biscay.The festivals annual New Director award went to Chinese filmmaker Cao Baoping for his film "The Equation of Love and Death."American director, Paul Thomas Anderson, was awarded the Fipresci prize - a subordinate category - for his film "There Will Be Blood."American actress Meryl Streep and Spanish actor Antonio Bandera's were honored on Friday with the Donostia Prize for a lifetimes work.Donostia is San Sebastian's name in the locally spoken Basque language. This year was the 56th edition of Spain's top film festival.Photo: AFP