Peter Mullan film takes the top award at Spanish festival

Mullan, best known for his collaborations with veteran British director Ken Loach, has already made his name on screen. He appeared with Mel Gibson in Braveheart and also had a role in Danny Boyle's box office smash Trainspotting.

The British-French- Italian co-production is an insightful exploration of the violent upheavals of adolescence within the harsh environment of 1970s Glasgow. It tells the story of the struggle of a young John McGill to make his mark on life.

Connor McCarron won the best actor award for his role as McGill, an intelligent, sensitive boy eager to learn and forge a future for himself but who finds life stacked heavily against him in urban Glasgow, which harbours another strong influence: the gangs, which include the Neds, or Non- Educated Delinquents.

In his biography Mullan acknowledges the influence of gang culture growing up on the South Side of Glasgow. Speaking at a press conference following the film's screening, he said the film was partly influenced by his childhood.

He said: "My childhood was dysfunctional. My father is not dissimilar from the character in the film, but (my childhood] wasn't as bad as presented in the film. When doing an autobiography, you have to present some kind of factual truth; but the shape of the film is similar to my childhood."

He said the film was also a comment on Scotland's long-standing reputation for gang violence. "It comes and goes. Every six or seven years it flares up, and then dies down. I'm not sure why, but it's in every big city in Scotland, England and in Europe as well. It's tribal and its territorial and knife crime is on the rise. Its pandemic and, sadly, that always seems to have been the case.

"I wrote most of the script in a local library, and I read a story about two 11-year-old kids who witnessed a fight between two older lads.

"They supported one of the older lads and he lost so the other lad chased one of them down and beat him to death with a brick.

"That happened in Edinburgh in 1893, so over 100 years ago such acts of random violence were prevalent even then.

"We're a very friendly country, full of very friendly people, so I don't know where this flipside of violence comes from."

Nora Navas was voted best actress for her part in Spanish film Pa Negre, which is Catalan for black bread. Directed by Agusti Villaronga, it is set in a Catalonia devastated by the 1936-39 Spanish civil war.

The best director award went to Raul Ruiz of Chile for Misterios de Lisboa, a Portuguese production, while the festival jury's special mention award went to Spanish film Elisa K.

The best photography category was awarded to Jimmy Gimferrer for his work in the Spanish production Aita, and the best screenplay prize went to Bent Hamer for Home for Christmas, a Norway-Sweden-Germany co- production.

The awards were presented at a glittering ceremony at the seaside resort last night. An awards spokesman said: "We had a nice choice of films.

"They were very diverse from the low budget to very expensive productions, so they were not easy to compare but the quality was good."