Incendies nabs Vancouver film fest top prize

Incendies, directed by Denis Villeneuve and based on a play by Wajdi Mouawad, has captured the Best Canadian Film prize at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).

The film, which also won the same accolade at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, concerns twins who journey to the Middle East to satisfy their mother's dying wish only to uncover shocking family secrets.

Incendies,given the award by a jury,was also recently selectedas Canada's submission in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards.

Villeneuve, whose last film was Polytechnique (2009), also gets $20,000.

Other awards handed out on Friday night included the Audience Award for best film toWasteland, a documentary by Lucy Walker about a U.S.-based artist's return to his homeland Brazil and his artistic collaboration with the people who recycle trash from the world's largest landfill.

Other prize winners include:

• Most Popular Non-fiction Film: Kinshasa Symphony, Claus Wischmann and Martin Baer.
• Most Popular Canadian Documentary Award: Leave Them Laughing by John Zaritsky.
• VIFF Environmental Film Audience Award: Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie by Sturla Gunnarsson.
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film: Halima Ouardiri of Quebec for Mokhtar.