The Seattle Film Festival concluded its 27th event yesterday with a ceremony at which awards determined by local audiences were handed out. Prizes - dubbed the Golden Space Needle Awards - were determined from the 200 feature films screened over the epic 25-day running time of the festival.

Jeff Probst's US independent Finder's Fee was named Best Film with Joint Security Area from South Korea, Mortal Transfer from France, Ghost World from the US and The Closet from France in runner-up positions.

Tim Blake Nelson was named best director for his controversial O, with Jean-Jacques Beineix for Mortal Transfer, Oxide Pang and Danny Pang for Bangkok Dangerous (Thailand), Paul Cox for Innocence (Australia) and Jeff Probst for Finder's Fee in runner-up positions.

John Cameron Mitchell won the best actor trophy for Hedwig And The Angry Inch (US) with Steve Buscemi for Ghost World, Kang-ho Song for Foul King (South Korea), Charles Tingwell for Innocence and Daniel Auteuil for The Closet in runner-up positions.

Thora Birch was voted best actress for Ghost World, with Gong Li for Breaking The Silence (China), Charlotte Rampling for Under The Sand (France), Leelee Sobieski for My First Mister (US) and Judy Davis for Gaudi Afternoon (Spain/US) in runner-up positions.

George Butler's The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition (US) took the documentary prize, followed by Southern Comfort (US), Scratch (US), If I Could (US) and Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures (UK) in runner-up slots.

Glen Gaylord's Boychick (US) was best short film.

Also presented were the juried awards for New American Cinema Award which went to Michael Polish's Jackpot, with a special jury prize to Jason Bloom's Viva Las Nowhere, and the New Director's Showcase Award which went to Lukas Moodysson for Together (Sweden), with a special jury prize to Reza Parsa for Before The Storm (Sweden) and Chan-Wook Park for Joint Security Area.