Who Took Top Prizes at International Film Festivals in 2010?

Cannes Film Festival in France
The highest prize at the Cannes is the Palme d'Or and the 2010 award went to a Thai film "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" from director Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The film can been described as a seductive and mystifying reflection on one's last days and a thematic journey into the death of cinema, with death being transformative more than final. It is the first Asian film to take the prize in 13 years.

Berlin International Film Festival
As Berlin's official symbol the Bear adorns the Festival's highest award, The Golden Bear. The 2010 prize went to the Turkish drama "Bal" ("Honey") from director Semih Kaplanoglu, which existentially explores loss from a child's perspective. It is only the second Turkish film to win the Golden Bear.

Venice Film Festival
Noted as the oldest Film Festival in the world, the esteemed prize is the Golden Lion. The 2010 award went to Sofia Coppola's celebrity satire about transformation, "Somewhere." Coppola is the first American women to win the Golden Lion.

Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto has become the most prestigious Festival in North America, known for generating early Oscar buzz in its People's Choice awards. There is no Jury awarded prize and the highest honor is the People's Choice Award, which went to "The King's Speech" in 2010.

Sundance Film Festival
Known as the harbinger of Independent filmmaking talent, Sundance is certainly America's premier Film Festival. There are two notable Sundance awards: the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award, each honoring a dramatic feature and documentary. In 2010 the Grand Jury Prize from Drama went to "Winter's Bone" and "Restrepo" took the documentary award. The Audience Award went to "Happythankyoumoreplease" for drama and "Waiting for Superman" for documentary.

San Francisco International Film Festival
Now in its 53rd year, San Francisco is home to the oldest Film Festival in Americas. The Academy Awards recognizes San Francisco as one of the qualifying festivals that screen Shorts Films entered into Oscar competition. The Festival's top prizes is the Golden Gate Award, which went to the documentary "Last Train Home" from director Lixin Fan. An expose on the annual mass migration of China's 130 million migrant workers.

Seattle International Film Festival
In terms of most films screened at a festival, Seattle is the largest. Each year they award the Festival's most popular film the Golden Space Needle Prize. The 2010 award went to Debra Granik's Ozark drama "Winter's Bone." The festival does not usually award Best Actress to the same film, but it did go to Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone."

Other notable festival prizes for 2010 :

Tokyo International Film Festival's Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix - Nir Bergman's "Intimate Grammar"
Shanghai International Film Festival's Golden Goblet - Gabriele Muccino's "Kiss Me Again"
Moscow International Film Festival's Golden George - Marcel Rasquin's "Hermano"
San Sebastián International Film Festival's Golden Shell - Peter Mullan's "Neds"
Montreal World Film Festival's Grand Prix des Americas - Hans Van Nuffel's "Oxygen"
Locarno International Film Festival's Golden Leopard - Li Hongqui's "Winter Vacation"
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival's Crystal Globe - Agustí Vila's "The Mosquito Net"
Mar del Plata International Film Festival's Ástor - Jerzy Skolimowski's "Essential Killing"
Warsaw FilmFest's Audience Award - Ola Simonsson & Johannes Stjarne Nilsson's "Sound of Noise"
Tribeca Film Festival's Best World Narrative Feature - Feo Aladag's "When We Leave"
Denver Film Festival's Krzysztof Kieslowski Award - Mohammad Rasoulof's "The White Meadows"