MANILA, Philippines—“Hunger,” a gritty prison drama from the UK and Ireland, won the Grand Prize (Lino Brocka Award) in the Main Competition section of the 2009 Cinemanila—the Philippines’ only international film festival which ends Sunday.

The film was the debut directorial work of former visual artist Steve McQueen.

Grand Jury Prize went to Sergey Dvortsevoy’s “Tulpan”—a German-Swiss-Kazakh production which tells the story of a sheep herder in search of a bride.

Best Actor

Tsilla Chelton won Best Actress for playing a grandmother on the verge of dementia in “Pandora’s Box” from Turkey-France-Germany.

Alfredo Castro won Best Actor for portraying a fiftysomething Chilean obsessed with John Travolta in “Tony Manero.”

In the Southeast Asian competition, top prizes went to Malaysian films: Yasmin Ahmad’s “Talentime” won Best SEA Film, while Best Short SEA Film went to Alizera Khatami and Ali Seifourri’s “Focal Point.”

Posthumous honor

It was a posthumous honor for Ahmad who passed away last July and was also honored with a retrospective in the Bangkok International Film Festival last month.

Special Mention in the SEA section went to the Malaysian-South Korean production, Woo Ming Jin’s “Woman on Fire Looks for Water.”

Jurors cited “Talentime” for “its wit, humor, joy . . . and calm fearlessness in confronting controversial issues” and “Woman on Fire Looks for Water” for “its deeply sensitive portrayal of the complexity of relationships.”

Digital Lokal

Cinemanila, now in its 11th year, also has a section called Digital Lokal for Filipino filmmakers.

Digital Lokal Lino Brocka Grand Prize went to Christopher Gozum’s “Anacbanua.” The section’s Grand Jury Prize was awarded to Armando Lao’s “Biyaheng Lupa.”

Gozum also won Best Director for “Anacbanua,” his tribute to Pangasinan’s art, poetry and culture.

Lifetime achievement

“To Siomai Love” topped the Young Cinema section, winning both Best Short Film and the Ishmael Bernal Award for Most Outstanding Young Filipino Filmmaker for director Remton Siega Zuasola.

Lifetime Achievement honor was given to US scriptwriter-director Paul Schrader who presented his latest film “Adam Resurrected” in the 10-day festival being held at the Market! Market! mall in Taguig.

Schrader was honored for his “masterful storytelling and for his body of work, which is an unapologetic reflection of the human soul and psyche.”

The Indie Spirit award was bestowed on Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz, for “his unwavering and steadfast commitment to independent cinema ... his stark examination of the country and its people in his films ... and for his uncompromising spirit ... which challenges and inspires.”

Jurors

The Cinemanila festival showcased at least 80 films from 30 countries.

Main Section jurors were Filipino filmmaker Brillante Mendoza and Indonesian critic Eric Sasono; Digital Lokal jurors were Sonja Heinen of the Berlin film fest, Un-Seong Yoo of the Jeonju film fest and Filipino filmmaker Sherad Anthony Sanchez; SEA section jurors were Filipino actor Ronnie Lazaro, US programmer Joel Shepard and Singaporean archivist Bee Thiam Tan; Young Cinema jurors were Thai critic Kong Rithdee and Filipino filmmaker John Torres.