FRENCH FILM ‘BETTY BLUES’ WINS TOP AWARD AT MONTREAL FESTIVAL

The French film “Betty Blues” by director Jean-Jacques Beineix, who made the hit thriller “Diva,” has won the Grand Prize at the 10th annual Montreal World Film Festival.

The movie’s star, actor Jean-Hughes Anglade, accepted the award at closing ceremonies Monday night. The film’s French title is “37.2 Le Matin,” which means 37.2 degrees (normal body temperature on the Celsius scale) in the morning.

An international jury named Polish-born Krystyna Janda best actress for her role in the West German film “Laputa,” while Dennis Hopper took the best actor award for his part in American director David Lynch’s movie “Blue Velvet.”

Spanish director Carlos Saura received a special award for his trilogy of flamenco dance films, “Blood Wedding,” “Carmen” and “Love the Magician.”

More than 200 features and 100 short films were screened for about 250,000 movie-goers during the 10-day festival.

The third annual Toronto film festival will begin Thursday with a screening of Canadian director Denys Arcand’s satire “Decline of the American Empire,” which won the international critics’ award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.