Resolution 819 by Italian director Giacomo Battiato won the gold Marcus Aurelius award for best film voted by the public at the Rome Film Festival on Friday, with the critic's gold award going to Opium War by Afghan director Siddiq Barmak.

A political drama, Resolution 819 follows a UN Security Council detective searching for evidence of genocide carried out by Bosnian Serbs in Srebrenica in July 1995 during the Balkans Conflict.

IAfghan movie director Siddiq Barmak poses with the Critics' Award for his movie "Opium War" at Rome's Film Festival October 31, 2008.[Xinhua/Reuters]

Golden Globe winner Barmak's dark comedy, Opium War, focuses on two US soldiers wounded in the Afghan desert who stumble across a Russian tank with a group of Afghanis living inside.

Italian actress Donatella Finocchiaro picked up a silver Marcus Aurelius for best actress in Galantuomini, a film by Edoardo Winspeare focusing on a female crime boss from Puglia's Sacra Corona Unita mafia and set in the southern city of Lecce during the 1990s.

Ukranian actor Bohdan Stupka won silver for best actor in the black comedy Serce Na Dloni (A Warm Heart) by Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi.

Italian actress Donatella Finocchiaro poses with the Critics' Best Actress Award for her role in the movie "Galantuomini" at Rome's Film Festival October 31, 2008.[Xinhua/Reuters]

Among other awards at the festival, lifetime achievement awards were handed to Hollywood legend Al Pacino and 1950s-1960s sex symbol Gina Lollobrigida.

According to organizers, during the 10 days festival, although the number of visitors to the festival venues was down 3.3 percent to 580,000 compared to last year, ticket sales for films were up 4.5 percent, while profits rose by 14.5 percent. 　

(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2008)