Shinji Aoyama, a 35-year-old Japanese film director, won the International Film Critics Award at the 53rd Cannes International Film Festival on Saturday.
Aoyama, a native of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, won the award for his black-and-white film "EUREKA."
The film, lasting three hours and 37 minutes, is about a brutal bus hijacking in Kyushu and the attempt by the three survivors -- the driver, a schoolgirl and her older brother -- to deal with the mental trauma.
Aoyama became the second Japanese film director in as many years to win the award, which is presented separately from the festival's official awards by a group of film critics and journalists from various countries.
Last year, Nobuhiro Suwa of Hiroshima won the same award for his film "M/OTHER," which describes the love between a divorced man and a younger female office worker.
The Cannes festival's official awards, including the top prize, the Palme d'Or, will be announced Sunday night local time.
Two Japanese directors -- Aoyama and Nagisa Oshima -- are taking part in the competition division at the festival.
Oshima is participating in the Cannes competition for the first time in 14 years, with "Gohatto" ("Taboo").