MANILA, Philippines?"Foster Child," a film about a poor family hired by a local foster care facility to provide temporary care and shelter for abandoned children waiting for adoption, won the Best Film at the 29th Durban International Film Festival in South Africa recently.

In a dispatch to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Ambassador to South Africa Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr. said the film's lead actress Cherry Pie Picache also won the Best Actress award during the Festival held from July 23 to August 3, 2008 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province.

It was Picache's second straight Best Actress award from the Durban Festival. She won the Best Actress award last year for her performance in "Kaleldo (Summer Heat)," an indie film directed by Brillante Mendoza, also the director of "Foster Child."

In the Osians Cine Fan Filmfest in New Delhi, India in 2007, Picache was also named Best Actress for "Foster Child."

"Foster Child" also won the Special Jury award in the 4th Eurasia International Film Festival held in Sept. 23-29, 2007 in Almaty, Kazakhstan .

Reyes said that "Foster Child" was praised by the festival's International Jury in Durban for "delving with remarkable skill into the everyday lives of its extremely well-developed characters, and for fusing documentary and drama to create a brave, humane and unconventional film."

The Durban International Film Festival is organized by the Centre for Creative Arts of the University of KwaZuiu-Natai, and is funded by the National Film & Video Foundation, South African Broadcasting Corporation, and the City of Durban , among others.