Emily Atef's The Stranger in Me, a drama about a mother who suffers from post-natal depression and becomes a threat to her child, won the best film award at the 32nd Sao Paulo International Film Festival.

The jury presided by UK director Hugh Hudson made an exception at the festival this year by announcing a best actress prize for Susanne Wolff, the film's star.

'After our world premiere at Critics Week in Cannes this year, Sao Paulo Film Festival was the first to request a copy of the film,'' said the German director Emily Atef, who came to Brazil to promote her third feature. Only films by new directors (with three features at most) are eligible for the jury awards in Sao Paulo.

In the documentary section, Rajesh S. Jala's Children of the Pyre (India) received the main prize; the directors Gabriel Mascaro and Marcelo Pedroso took home the festival's second-ranked award, the special jury prize, for The Beetle KFZ-1348 (Brazil); and a special mention went to Dimitry Trakovsky for Meeting Andrei Tarkovsky (USA-Sweden-Russia-Italy).

Miguel Gomes' Aquele Querido Mes de Agosto (Portugal) was the critics favorite and audience awards went to Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodhaa Akbar, from India (foreign fiction), Elizabeth Chai Vasarhekyi's Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love, from US (foreign documentary), Paulo Henrique Fontenelle's Loki - Arnaldo Batista (Brazilian documentary) and Matheus de Souza's Apenas O Fim (Brazilian fiction).

The awards were handed out last night at SESC Pinheiros, before a concert given by Portuguese actress Maria de Medeiros.

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