The 22nd annualCognac thriller festival wrapped up on Sunday night with Bong Joon-Ho's MemoriesOf Murder the hands down winner. TheKorean film took the grand prize, the special police prize conferred byprofessional law enforcement agents the Premiere magazine prize and theMediatheques prize.

Memories is a poignant look at a special police forcetracking a serial killer in the Gyunggi province. Other winners includedBelgian thriller The Alzheimer Case (De Zaak Alzheimer) by Erik Van Looy and a tie between Wayne Kramer's The Cooler for which Alec Baldwin was nominated for a best supportingactor Oscar this year and PTUfrom Hong Kong's Johnnie To.

But the real Johnny to makea splash at the event was French superstar rocker and sometime actor JohnnyHallyday. A special evening was devoted to his films while he was also a memberof the main jury presided over by Roger Spottiswoode.

Set in Cognac amiddistilleries such as Remy Martin, Hennessey and Martell, the film festival hasbecome a prestigious stop on the specialised festival calendar with a winbringing local cachet to a picture. Angelina Jolie vehicle Taking Lives opened the event while the sequel/prequel to HongKong hit Infernal Affairsbookended the four day gathering.