Indian Film Takes Top Prize at Venice Film Festival

Indian film “Monsoon Wedding”, directed by Mira Nair, took home top honors late Saturday at the Venice film festival, winning the Golden Lion award.

Nair's comedy about the clash between tradition and modernity, one of two films in competition directed by women, was selected out of 20 films in official competition at the 58th Mostra.

Iran's Babak Payami won the prize for best director for his film "Secret Ballot", a comedy about voting in an isolated village in Iran.

Payami's successful effort comes after Iranian Jafar Panahi moved audiences at last year's Venice film fest, where he won the Golden Lion with "The Circle" on the tragic lives of Iranian women.

The 35-year-old director, who studied in Toronto, spent 20 years overseas before deciding to return to Iran.

Luigi Lo Cascio and Sandra Ceccarelli won the best actor and actress awards for their work in Giuseppe Piccioni's "Luce dei miei occhi" (Light of My Eyes).

The film tells the story of Antonio (Lo Cascio), a chauffeur in Rome and a science-fiction buff with an imaginary alter ego named Morgan.

One day he meets Maria, played by Ceccarelli, who has run up debts to buy a frozen-food store and is worried she will lose her daughter, Lisa. The paternal grandparents have gone to court to obtain foster care over Lisa.

Antonio falls in love with Maria and tries to help her solve her problems.

"Light of My Eyes" is Piccioni's seventh feature film -- AFP