AN Irish German co production, My Friend Joe, has won the Crystal Bear award for Best Children's Film at the Berlin Festival.
The film was a joint venture Irish producer Michael O'Connell and Gemini films and was shot on location in Ireland. The Irish premiere which stars Joel Grey and features Pauline McGlynn, Stanley Townsend and John Cleere, will be seen Dublin Film Festival next month.
Sense and Sensibility, directed by Aug Lee and starring Emma Thompson, won the Golden Bear award for Best Film. Mr Lee, whose film The Wedding Banquet won the Golden Bear two years ago, became the first director to be awarded the prize twice.
The Silver Bear for Best Director was shared by the Chinese director Yim Ho for his film The Sun Has Ears and Richard Loncraine for his version of Richard III.
Sean Penn was named Best Actor for his role as Matthew Poncelet in Dead Man Walk The Best Actress award to Anouk Grinberg for her in Mon Homme.