ROBERT DE NIRO - CHINESE FILM WINS BERLIN'S GOLDEN BEAR

Tuya's Marriagewas the surprise winner of the top Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival Saturday. The Chinese film, about a herdswoman in Mongolia who seeks a new husband when her existing one becomes ill, had not been among the favorites mentioned earlier by most journalists and critics attending the festival. Israeli director Joseph Cedar, who was born in the U.S., won the best director award for his anti-war film Beaufort. The Silver Bear prize for best actress went to Nina Hoss for the German film Yella, about a woman who flees the depressed conditions in the former East Germany -- and her stalking ex-husband -- for the West. The Silver Bear for best actor went to Julio Chavez for the Argentinian film, The Other, about a man who takes on the identity of a dead man in order to start a new life. The Berlinale jury, headed by Paul Shrader, also awarded a trophy to Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd for outstanding artistic contribution.

19/02/2007