`Kops', a comedyby Swedish director Josef Fares, has won the Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the sixth Bermuda International Film Festival.

The film is the second feature by 25-year-old Mr. Fares, whose previous film `Jalla! Jalla!' won at BIFF in 2001. `Kops' has done more than $6 million in box office in his native Sweden.

The other main prizes were won by Discovering Dominga (Best Documentary Feature, d. Patricia Flynn, United States) `Sophie' (Bermuda Shorts Award, d. Helen Lee, United States), and `The Pianist' (Audience Choice Award, d. Roman Polanski, France-Poland-United Kingdom-Italy).

Narrative features jury members David Ansen (Newsweek magazine film critic), actress Karen Allen, and Valerie Van Galder (Sony Screen Gems) also awarded a Special Jury Mention to ` The Rent' (d. Marc Ottiker, Germany).

Documentary film jury members Jeffrey Jacobs (Jacobs Entertainment), and filmmakers Chuck Workman and Errol Williams, awarded a Special Jury Mention to `The Other Final' (d. Johan Kramer, Holland).

"`Kops' creates its own comic universe and manages to be farcical without losing its sense of humanity," says Mr. Ansen.

The Special Jury Mention winner, ` the Rent', tells the intriguing story of a homeless computer hacker who re-connects with life by becoming involved with an assortment of apparently unconnected people.

"We honoured ` the Rent' with a Special Jury Mention because of its original cinematic vision - we felt it was a unique film," Mr. Ansen says.

`Discovering Dominga' tells the story of a Guatemalan woman who returns to her homeland to uncover the truth about how and why her family died at the hands of the military.

Juror Mr. Jacobs said the award was given to the film "for enriching the viewer and using cinematic technique to increase our awareness of the human condition."

Chuck Workman, himself an Academy Award winner, said: "Nearly all of the documentary films we saw at the festival engaged important topics. We felt the filmmakers related really well to important and engaging issues."

Patricia Flynn, director of `Discovering Dominga', has received numerous awards for her work in broadcast journalism including the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, the National Association of Community Broadcasters Golden Reel, the Overseas Press Club Citation for Excellence and the Harry Chapin World Hunger Year Award.

`Sophie', the Bermuda Shorts Award winner, tells the story of an immigrant Asian family, living in the United States, who are torn apart by a father's rage and alcoholism.

Gold and fellow juror Ravi Kumar, winner of the Bermuda Shorts Award at BIFF 2002 for `My Other Wheelchair is a Porsche', also gave Special Jury Mentions to 10 Again (director Simon Ellis, United Kingdom) and `Katherine' (director Mary Louise Stoughton, United States).

The runners-up in the Audience Choice category were the documentary films `Partners of the Heart' (director Andrea Kalin, United States) and `Only the Strong Survive' (directors D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, United States).