A Lebanese film centred around a beauty parlour has captured the top prize for narrative film at the 11th Bermuda International Film Festival.

"Caramel" by Lebanese director Nadine Labaki, was awarded Mary-Jean Mitchell Green Award at the festival's wrap party on Saturday night, which was held at the Hamilton Princess.

The film was selected by the narrative film jury of director Robert Favreau (A Sunday in Kigali) and producer Charles Bishop (Bowling for Columbine). Ms Labaki wins a $5,000 cash prize.

"Caramel, in a very brilliant way, shows us a complex microcosmos where many stories and sub-stories take place," Mr. Favreau said. "The stories are all well-developed and involve many characters to whom we become strongly attached. We also gave the award to Caramel for its great sense of humour, true tragic breath, for its authentic and subversive feminine perspective, and for its unforgettable scenes without dialogue that made us laugh and cry at the same time."

The 2008 festival featured 79 films from 32 countries. Hundreds attended the popular wrap party where they drank, dance, dined and were entertained by the up and coming act Langhorne Slim and the War Eagles as well as Uzimon.

In BIFF's documentary category, the top prize was shared by two films — "Saving Luna" and "Souvenirs". Jurors Linda Hattendorf (The Cats of Mirikitani) and Peter Raymont (Shake Hands With the Devil: the Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman) said both films warranted the prize.

"We gave the award to 'Souvenirs' for its loving revelation of an intimate and evolving father-son relationship that brought laughter and tears," Ms Hattendorf said, "and also for its cinema verite, car-to-car and car mount shooting, and for its heart and terrific scored music.

" 'Saving Luna' was an inspiring, mesmerising, spiritual and poetic story. It featured spectacular locations and beautiful cinematography. It was honest, had a grand, theatrical feel and gave us an inside look at filmmakers who became activists."

Steven-Charles Jaffe's documentary 'Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird' also received a special jury mention.

A $3,000 prize for the best short film went to 'Toyland', a German film from director Jochen Freydank.

The prize is sponsored by M3 Wireless and the jurors were Al Seymour Jr. and Ted Bezaire.

"We gave the award to Toyland for its beauty, fantastic sound, great acting, and a story that is complete and powerful," Mr. Bezaire said.

Two other short films received special mentions — 'Ark' (d. Grzegorz Jokajtys, Poland) and 'The Legend of the Slow Man' (d. Armando del Rio, Spain).

The Bacardi Audience Choice Award — selected by filmgoers at the festival — went to 'Red Dust' from director Tom Hooper. The award carries a $3,000 cash prize.