The 14th Tokyo International Film Festival ended its nine-day run Sunday with "Slogans," directed by Albanian Gjergj Xhuvani, winning the Tokyo Grand Prix.
The film, which also won 5 million yen in prize money, was one of 14 films in the competition division for novice directors at the event, which organizers said drew some 105,000 people from around the world.
The event, one of the world's 11 major international film festivals, this year showcased 140 films from around the world. It took place at six locations in central Tokyo including the Bunkamura arts center in Shibuya Ward.
"Slogans" depicts Albanians in the late 1970s living under dictatorship. It features a male elementary school teacher in a mountain village who with the help of his students spells out political slogans in stones on a nearby hill.
The 14 films vying for this year's top prize included two from Japan -- "Kewaishi" ("Makeup Artist") by Mitsutoshi Tanaka and "The Lament of a Lamb" by Junji Hanado. -- as well as movies from South Korea, the United States and Thailand.
The festival, held annually since 1991, went ahead despite the absence of several Hollywood celebrities who canceled their visits to Japan in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the U.S. Director Steven Spielberg and U.S. actress Cameron Diaz were among the guests who had been expected to attend.