SHORT TAKES : ‘Aunt Julia’ Favorite at Festival

Spectators at Deauville’s annual American film festival picked “Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter,” a comedy starring Peter Falk, as their favorite American film of the year.

The film, directed by Jon Amiel and based on a novel by Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, has yet to open in commercial theaters. It is set in the 1950s, with Falk playing a writer of radio scripts.

Most of the films at the festival have opened in the United States. Among those making premieres in Deauville were “Cadence,” the first movie directed by actor Martin Sheen, and “Convicts,” directed by Peter Masterson and starring Robert Duvall.

There is no celebrity jury at Deauville’s festival. All voting is by spectators.