The Sky Falls (Il Cielo Cade), a World War II drama set in Tuscany, won the top prize at the 30th edition of the Giffoni Film Festival after 320 child jurors gave the Italian title the thumbs up on Saturday.

Veronica Niccolai, who plays opposite Isabella Rossellini, also picked up the best actress award for her part in the $2.8 million adaptation of Lorenza Mazzetti's novel. Giffoni's second prize went to Jay Russell's US title My Dog Skip, with Frankie Muniz receiving the best actor prize for his title role.

The jury of 12 to 14 year-olds also gave a special mention to the UK's Mark Herman for Purely Belter, about two young boys' mission to find the cash to buy season tickets for their football club. Other films to get a mention included The Colour of Paradise by Iran's Majid Majidi; Italy's Running Free by Sergei Bodrov; and France's Le Monde De Marty.

Special guests at this year's festival, which was attended by 80,000 people, included actor Rupert Everett, Italian director Mario Monicelli and Giorgio Cantarini, who starred as Roberto Benigni's son in Italian hit La Vita E' Bella. Three films made their Italian debut at the festival: Spain's Krampack; Walt Disney's Fantasia 2000; and 20th Century Fox's animated film Titan AE.