"Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman won the best actress award at the Tribeca Film Festival Saturday for "Transamerica," in which she plays a preoperative transsexual woman on a cross-country road trip.

The Chinese feature film "Stolen Life" and the documentary "El Perro Negro: Stories From the Spanish Civil War" were among the other top winners. Also honored at the awards ceremony were the best new filmmakers: Alicia Scherson, who won for the narrative feature "Play," and Jeff Zimbalist and Matt Mochary for the documentary "Favela Rising."

Director Li Shaohong's film "Stolen Life" ("Sheng Si Jie") follows a young woman who leaves home for college, only to be deceived by the man she falls in love with. "El Perro Negro," from Hungarian director Peter Forgacs, is about Catalan industrialists who tell their own history through home movies. The winners in the top four film categories each receive $25,000 prizes.

In the best-actor category, Cees Geel won for "Simon" from the Netherlands, about a gay man and a straight man who rekindle their friendship after many years.

Among the judges in Tribeca's fourth year were Sheryl Crow, Whoopi Goldberg and actor Michael Imperioli. More than 250 films were shown during the 13-day festival, which ends Sunday.

Posted by Lawren at May 2, 2005 07:26 AM

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