Paddy Considine’s feature debut has won the grand jury prize and the best screenplay award at the Dinard Film Festival.

Paddy Considine’s debut feature Tyrannosaur has won the Golden Hitchcock Award for best film at the 22nd Dinard British Film Festival (Oct 5-9).

Considine also won the prize for best screenplay for his harrowing story about a man plagued by violence who sparks up a relationship with a charity shop worker, herself in an abusive relationship.

Produced by Diarmid Scrimshaw for Warp Films, the Sundance-winning film opens this weekend in the UK via StudioCanal (formerly Optimum Releasing). Warp’s Mark Herbert and Shane Meadows picked up the award in Dinard on Considine’s behalf.

The Golden Hitchcock Award includes financial help to the French distribution of the film and a promotional campaign on Cine+ channels, although Tyrannosaur does not have a French distributor yet.

Earlier in the festival artistic director Hussam Hindi pointed out that the Golden Hitchcock winning film always goes on to double its box office takings in the French region of Brittany where Dinard is situated.

The other big winner was John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard, another Sundance hit starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle, which picked up the audience award and the best cinematography award, sponsored by Kodak.  

The Guard also won the Heart of the Festival award, with a runner-up prize going to Andrew Haigh’s Weekend.

Dinard regular John Hurt was yesterday presented with an honorary Hitchcock Award after a screening of Belinda Chayko’s Lou about a relationship between a grandfather and grandaughter, in which Hurt stars.  

The Short Film Award went to Kristof Bilsen’s White Elephant.

The jury this year was headed up by French actress Nathalie Baye and included British actresses Jamie Winstone and Hayley Atwell.

The awards ceremony, which ended with festival honoree Petula Clark singing her hit ‘Downtown,’ was followed by the festival’s closing night gala screening of Sue Bourne’s documentary Jig about the Irish dancing world championships. Guests then headed to a glitzy dinner with those in attendance including BFI chief executive Amanda Nevill and British directors Hugh Hudson and Shane Meadows.

Local audiences have flocked to see British films at the festival, which is still going strong despite losing its UKFC and British Council funding last year. The festival signed a new partnership deal with hotel company Mandarin Oriental who sponsored this year’s Producers Lunch.

The intimate festival has once again proved a hit with British producers, directors, sales agents and actors, who see it as an invaluable place to network as well as gauge French audience reactions to British films.

Graham Benson, chair of regional screen agency Screen South who hosted a special lunch during the festival, described Dinard as “the most unique festival in the world.”

Speaking about the festival’s continued support of British films, Hindi said: “We have a passion for your cinema, we appreciate your films and your humour and the way you show the world. The industry is going through a period of changes in Britain, but we are here in Dinard to help you and to showcase your films in France.”