Czech film wins at San Sebastian

Pavel Liska (L) was the star of director Bohdan Slama's film

Czech director Bohdan Slama's Something like Happiness (Stesti) won best film at the San-Sebastian festival.

The jury, headed by US actress Anjelica Huston, voted for the bleak look at Czech life ahead of 19 films in competition for the Golden Shell.

The festival drew to a close with a screening of New Zealand film The World's Fastest Indian.

The festival paid tribute to Sound of Music director Robert Wise, who died the day before the event opened.

His wife Millicent was in Spain ahead of the festival's opening ceremony when she heard he had died. She flew back to Los Angeles immediately.

The jury gave Something Like Happiness star Ana Geislerova the best actress award, while best actor went to Spaniard Juan Jose Ballesta for 7 Virgenes.

Allen departure

The jury's special award went to Argentine film Iluminados por el Fuego (Enlightened by Fire), about a man who fought in 1982's Falklands War, declaring it a film that "conveys with emotion and intelligence the tragic senselessness of war".

Many films shown during the 10-day event were screened "out of competition", meaning they were not considered by the jury for the Golden Shell.

Among these was Woody Allen's London-set movie Match Point, starring Scarlett Johansson.

The film, one of only a few Allen did not set in his beloved Manhattan, drew warm praise from audiences.

Other popular films included the French love story Je ne suis pas la Pour Etre Aime and the Argentine thriller El Aura.

Although the event did not attract the A-list stars of Cannes and Venice film festivals it did showcase movies from respected directors.

British director Michael Winterbottom screened his film Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, based on Irish-born writer Laurence Sterne's novel published around 1760, which was considered "unfilmable".