Japanese director RyuichiHiroki's It's Only Talk won best filmat last night's [April 28] Silver Screen Awards, held as part of the SingaporeInternational Film Festival which closes today with Royston Tan's 4:30.

The tragicomedy, whichfocuses on the life of a single woman, was chosen as it "reveals the lonelinessof daily life in modern Japan through a creative and mature script", accordingto the jury which included Palestinian director Michel Khleifi, Lee Meily, oneof the few female cinematographers in the Philippines, and Singapore DoP GohMeng Hing.

The special jury award wentto Riri Riza's Gie, which the jurydescribed as "a good chronology of the events in a particular period in South-EastAsian history when the Indonesian military seized the country".

Singapore director Kelvin Tong was awarded best director for Love Story, one of six Focus: First Cutsprojects produced by Hong Kong's Focus Films.

Hanan El Turk was awardedbest actress for her performance as a poetry student and belly dancer in JocelyneSaab's Kiss Me Not On The Eyes, whichopened the festival on April 13.

Best actor went to 10-year-old ElijaCastillo for his role in Filipino director Clodualdo del Mundo Jr's digitalproduction Pepot Superstar. Anotherdigital film from the Philippines, John Torres' TodoTodo Teros, won the NETPAC-FIPRESCI award, along with Chinese director YingLiang's Taking Father Home.

The Singapore festival, which turns 20 next year, is known for itsstrong showcase of Asian cinema. Ten Asian features competed at the SilverScreen Awards this year, including three world premieres, one internationalpremiere and one Asian premiere.

"Traditionally, premiereswere held in the West but the independent wave in Asia has become so strong that we now see lots of Asian films appear at Asianfestivals first," says festival director Philip Cheah. "Asian festivals are ata crossroads and set to become more prominent."