Bengali actor Anasuya Sengupta has won the Best Actress award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard section for fresh voices in contemporary cinema.
The Kolkata-based Sengupta was bestowed the prestigious honour for her performance as a sex worker on the run for alleged murder of a policeman in 'The Shameless', a film set in India.
Directed by Bulgarian filmmaker Konstantin Bujanov, 'The Shameless' was shot in Kathmandu, Nepal, last year with an Indian cast that included Sengupta and Omara Shetty.
Sengupta, known for her acting in Bengali director Anjan Dutta's 2009 film, 'Madly Bangalee', plays the role of Renuka, who escapes from a Delhi brothel after stabbing a police superintendent to death in the film.
The film tells the story of the bond between Renuka and Devika, a young woman who is condemned to a life of prostitution in a community of sex workers in North India.
'The Shameless' was tipped to win the top prize of Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes festival. Chinese film, 'Black Dog', by Guan Hu about a man given the job of killing stray dogs ahead of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 saving the life of a black dog, won the section's Un Certain Regard Prize.
The Jury Prize went to the French film, 'The History of Souleymane', a festival favourite that tells the story of a refugee delivering food in the streets of Paris while struggling to become a citizen of France. Abou Sangare, who plays the role of Souleymane, won the Best Actor award.
Hindi film 'Masaan' directed by Neeraj Ghaywan had won the Promising Future Prize in Un Certain Regard category of the Cannes festival in 2015.
Award-winning Canadian director-actor Xavier Dolan headed the jury of Un Certain Regard, which had 18 feature films, including eight debut movies, this year.
Among the jury members were French-Senegalese screenwriter and director Maimouna Doucoure, Moroccan director-screenwriter Asmae El Moudir and German-Luxembourg actor Vicky Krieps.(UNI)
