Chinese mainland up-and-coming director Xu Jinglei has won the "Altadis—Best New Director" for her film Letter From an Unknown Woman at Spain's prestigious San Sebastian film festival.

The movie is based on the novel of the same name, written by renowned Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. It tells the story of a woman who devotes her life to a secret lover.

The film cost 20 million yuan, or nearly US$2 and a half million  to make and will be dubbed in Japanese, English and Spanish.

The top award, the "Golden Shell", was given to Iranian-born director Bahman Ghobadi for her film Turtles can fly. The film is set during the lead up to the US invasion of Iraq, starring an amateur cast of children.

(CRI September 27, 2004)