Icelandic comedy wins sidebar Cannes prize

A jury led by Italian-US actress Isabella Rossellini at the Cannes Film Festival awarded the best picture prize in the sidebar Un Certain Regard section Saturday to an Icelandic comedy, "Rams".

The film by Grimur Hakonarson, who has made several well-received documentaries, tells the story of two estranged brothers who have to reunite to save their livelihood in sheep-breeding.

During the 12-day festival, film industry bible Variety said Hakonarson "capitalises on his extensive knowledge of Icelandic bachelor farmers and the unique landscapes of his homeland, while spicing the proceedings with some wonderfully wry, charmingly understated comic moments".

Croatian director Dalibor Matanic clinched the runner-up Jury Prize among 19 contenders for "The High Sun", which tells love stories set against the backdrop of ethnic hatred.

Best director went to Japan's Kiyoshi Kurosawa for "Journey to the Shore", a slow-paced magical realist drama about a woman whose dead husband returns to her.

Rossellini is the daughter of Swedish-born screen legend Ingrid Bergman and Italian director Roberto Rossellini.

Cannes this year paid homage to Bergman, star of "Casablanca" and a triple Oscar winner who died in 1982, by screening a documentary of her life and featuring her on the festival poster.

"Mama seems to have hovered over all of us, filmmakers and film lovers, as a guardian angel," Rossellini said as global cinema's top showcase drew to a close.

The Un Certain Regard prize ceremony took place on the eve of the festival's main awards night, when a panel chaired by Hollywood filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen will bestow the Palme d'Or top prize.