Chinese film wins Best Picture at Berlin film festival

Berlin: The Chinese film `Bai Ri Yan Huo` (Black Coal, Thin Ice) has won the Golden Bear for best picture at the 64th Berlin international film festival. Liao Fan won the prize last night for best actor in the same film, while Haru Kuroki won best actress for her role in the Japanese movie `Chiisai Ouchi` (The Little House). `Bai Ri Yan Huo` features the tale of an overweight detective, played by Liao Fan, on the trail of a serial killer. "It`s really hard to believe this dream has come true," a stunned Diao Yinan, director of the winning film, said while receiving the award. Wes Anderson`s `Grand Budapest Hotel`, the festival opener, took home the Silver Bear grand jury prize, while the Ethiopian film `Difret`, based on a real case of bride abduction in Ethiopia, bagged the audience award. Some 400 films have been screened during the 11-day festival, 23 of them in the competition category. Indian film `Highway`, directed by Imtiaz Ali and starring Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda in lead, also had its world premiere in the prestigious festival. Veteran French director Alain Resnais bagged the Alfred Bauer Prize for work of particular innovation for his film `Life of Riley`. An eight-person jury decides the awards. This year it was headed by American director and producer James Schamus, known for producing `Brokeback Mountain`. The festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious film showcases in the world, but this year some critics complained of a dearth of strong entries, and a lack of films with strong political or social agendas.