Hedwig And The Angry Inch has won the international critics' prize at the Deauville Festival of American cinema. Hedwig beat 10 other films to the prize, which is open only to independent films. The festival's jury prize went to Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World which stars Steve Buscemi and Thora Birch.

Jean-Jacques Annaud, the acclaimed French director (Enemy at the Gates and Seven Years in Tibet), presided over the awards ceremony, which also saw prizes for: Seth Wiley's, The Good Things which received the grand prize for a short film, Lori Silverbush's Mental Hygiene, which took the jury prize for a short film, and R.A. White's, Frank's Book, which got the Canal Plus prize for a short film.

Other buzz movies included: The Doe Boy by Randy Redroad and The Deep End by Scott McGehee and David Siegel.

Actor Christopher Walken received a special award for his career in films spanning The Deer Hunter, A View To A Kill to Wayne's World 2.

Meanwhile, Michael Cimino was awarded a literature prize for his first novel Big Jane.