The film "Nagai Sanpo" ("A Long Walk") has won the Grand Prix at the Montreal World Film Festival, the film's distributor said Tuesday.
Directed by actor Eiji Okuda, it also won the international critics prize at the 30th film festival, which ran Aug. 24 to Monday.
The 136-minute film, starring Ken Ogata and Saki Takaoka, tells the story of a lonely, retired school principal who befriends a 5-year-old girl who has been abused.
"Everyone in the world wants real love. It was a great pleasure to be able to prove that," Okuda said in a statement.
The film will be released in Japan in December.
Okuda, who has received numerous prizes for acting, directed his first film in 2001. That movie, "Shojo" ("An Adolescent"), won the Grand Prix at the Paris International Film Festival in 2002.
His second film was "Runin" ("Banished"), released in 2004. "Nagai Sanpo" is his third feature.
The Montreal film festival has awarded numerous prizes to Japanese films over the years.
Ken Takakura won the Best Actor award in 1999 for his role in "Poppoya" ("Railman"), and "The Milkwoman" ("Itsuka Dokusho Suruhi") directed by Akira Ogata got the Special Grand Prix of the Jury in 2005.
