?Stray Dogs?, the second feature by Iranian director Marziyeh Meshkini, won the Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the eighth Bermuda International Film Festival on Thursday night.

The festival closed out in style again this year with the wrap party at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess on Thursday night, a glitzy affair featuring a fountain of chocolate (complete with cake and fruit for dipping) and the awards ceremony, where the cheerfully noisy crowd had to be shushed by Oscar-nominated ?Green Mile? actor Michael Clarke Duncan ? adding that he was once a bouncer ? while the winners were announced.

Mr. Duncan and ?Sleepless in Seattle? screenwriter Jeff Arch, both jury members for the narrative feature category, had praised Ms Meshkini?s film highly. ?Stray Dogs? tells the story of two young children left to fend for themselves after both their mother and father are imprisoned in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

The brother and sister, saving a dog from almost certain death, face a daily struggle for food and a place to sleep at night. For a time, they are allowed into the prison housing their mother as ?night prisoners?.

Mr. Duncan?s eye was caught by the performance of Gol Ghoti as the sister. ?That little girl carried the film by herself. Her performance was fantastic, it just blew me away.?

?The world is upside down when the worst thing in the world for us ? a prison stay ? is the best thing in the world for them,? Mr. Arch said. ?War makes orphans of everybody.?

In the documentary category, jurors Judy Greer (?Adaptation?) and film marketing/publicity specialist Bonnie Voland singled out ?Murderball?, the story of the full contact sport quad rugby, played by quadriplegics in armoured wheelchairs.

?We selected ?Murderball? not only for its compelling subject matter and people, but because the quality of the filmmaking itself enhanced and added to the beauty and the strength of the people it focuses on,? Ms Voland said.

This year?s Bermuda Shorts winner for best short film was Goodbye, Cruel World from director Vito Rocco. The 12-minute film is a black comedy about a boy dealing with the death of a friend.

Bermudian director Andrew Stevenson also received acclamation at BIFF for his first-ever attempt at a short film, the moving ?Paving Shangri-la?.

The film, done by Mr. Stevenson during one of his many treks in Nepal, is about a road being built across Nepal by Chinese authorities, whose goal is to prevent the mountain kingdom from falling into the political orbit of India.

?We wanted to give strong encouragement to local filmmakers,? juror Srdjan Vuletic, who directed last year?s Best Narrative Feature winner ?Summer in the Golden Valley?, said.

?But more than that, we wanted to honour a filmmaker who had no self-interest in telling this story about Nepal. This documentary demonstrates a basic human need to help others, and to help people understand the plight of others.?

Seventy films from 20 countries screened at BIFF 2005, including the world premieres of documentaries ?McLibel? and ?Everything?s Coming My Way?, about Bermudian-born singer Gordon Thomas who returned home for the festival to a warm welcome after leaving the Island 86 years ago.