The sixth annual Tribeca Film Festival on Friday announced 2007 award winners. Chinese film Lost in Beijing received honorable mention for its screenplay.

The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Israeli film My Father My Lord telling the story of a respected rabbi in an ultra-Orthodox community who is forced to come to terms with the demands of his faith and the welfare of his own family.

Best Documentary Feature was awarded to Taxi to the Darkside, directed by US director Alex Gibney. It examines the death of an Afghan taxi driver at Bagram Air Base from injuries inflicted by US soldiers. In an unflinching look at the Bush administration's policy on torture, the filmmaker takes the audience from a villagein Afghanistan to Guantanamo and straight to the White House.

Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film was claimed by Lofti Edbelli who plays Bahta, a 25-year-old Tunisian who fall in with a group of fundamentalists and was brainwashed to be a suicide bomber in film Making of. The film written and directed by Nouri Bouzid also received Best Screenplay.

Two awards were also given to honor New York films, which were chosen from 14 narrative and eight documentary features.

The festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, his producing partner, Jane Rosenthal, and her husband, the entrepreneur Craig Hatkoff, to help economically and culturally revitalize Lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11 attacks.

This year's festival included 157 features and 88 short films from 47 countries. The world competition winners were chosen from 18 narrative and 16 documentary features from 25 countries.

"The talent of this year's award winners and their diverse storytelling styles is truly impressive," said Jane Rosenthal. "We are thrilled that the Festival has helped to bring all of our filmmakers' voices to light and that the film community and our New York neighbors have continued to embrace the festival year after year."

"It's gratifying that several juries offered spontaneous enthusiasm for the high level of work they watched during this festival," said Peter Scarlet, executive director of the festival."This in fact echoes remarks we've heard from viewers at many of our screenings: intelligent, challenging movies are indeed alive and well, and there is an appreciative audience for films that find new ways to open our eyes to the world around us."

Organizers said in its first five years, the festival attracted over 1.5 million attendees from the United States and abroad and created more than US$325 million in economic activity for NewYork City.

The sixth annual Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 25 to May 6, 2007.
 
(Xinhua News Agency May 7, 2007)