Dead Man's Shoes won the top prize in a unanimous jury decision atthe 15th Dinard Festival of British Film (Oct 7-10). As directorShane Meadows was awarded the Hitchcock d'Or he claimed he had "made the filmout of pure instinct rather than technical ability".

The prize includes an awardof Euros 3,000 to contribute towards distribution costs plus Euros 1,600 toassist the director with forthcoming projects. Further support is offered inthe form of additional film printing and subtitling services - which shouldhelp get a French distributor on board for the film.

Director Kenny Glenaanpicked up this year's Hitchcock d'Argent Audience Award for his film Yasmin,while the Kodak prize for Best Cinematography went to Nick Love's TheFootball Factory and to director of photography Damien Bromley.

The competition alsoincluded Bullet Boy, the feature debut from director Saul Dibb, Mothersand Daughters from directing duo Hannah Davis and David Conolly as well asPawel Pawlikowski's My Summer of Love.

To mark the centenary of theEntente Cordiale, the British Council created a Euros 1500 prize for the beststudent film. John-Paul Harney, a student of the UK's National Film andTelevision School, took the honours for his film Brand Spanking.

This year's jury alsosuggested Dinard include a best actor/actress prize in forthcoming festivals.Presided over by veteran French TV personality Jacques Chancel, the juryincluded actresses Cecile de France, Catherine Jacob, Laura Smet and PhilippineLeroy-Beaulieu as well as British actors Phil Davis, Kieran O'Brien and HugoSpeer. Christopher Lee, Charlotte Rampling and director Mike Hodges were alsoamong the many actors and filmmakers participating in the festival.