"Visitor'" nabs top nod at French film fest

By Charles Masters

DEAUVILLE, France (Hollywood Reporter) - Thomas McCarthy's immigration drama "The Visitor" won the top prize at the 34th Deauville Festival of American Film Sunday.

The surprise arthouse hit brings a sharply critical view of U.S. immigration policy in a tale about a New York economics professor who finds that two illegals have moved into his apartment.

In collecting his Grand Prix trophy, McCarthy underlined the political intent of his latest movie, saying that he "believes in the power of art to effect change."

The runner-up Jury Prize went to Lance Hammer's drama "Ballast," which depicts the effects of a suicide on two neighbors in the Mississippi Delta. The International Critics Award went to the pedophile drama "Gardens of the Night," directed by Damian Harris.

Star wattage was dim during the 10-day festival on the Normandy coast, but things picked up during the closing stages with Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen in town for the premiere of Harris' second directorial outing, the Western "Appaloosa."

Kevin Spacey, Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Parker Posey, Juliette Binoche, William Hurt and Maria Bello also put in festival appearances.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter