CANNES, France - Canadian Suzanne Clement has been awarded the Best Actress prize in the Cannes Film Festival's sidebar competition, Un Certain Regard.
The Quebec actress claimed the prize for her role in Xavier Dolan's cross dressing drama "Laurence Anyways."
The film tracks the story of a man trying to salvage his relationship with his fiancee after revealing to her his aspirations of becoming a woman.
Clement is sharing the award with Emilie Dequenne for her performance in Joachim Lafosse’s "A Perdre la Raison."
The competition's top prize went to "After Lucia" by Mexican director Michel Franco.
Un Certain Regard focuses on new and emerging filmmakers. The winners were chosen Saturday from a slate of 20 films by a jury headed by British actor Tim Roth.
Roth called the 2012 crop an "extraordinarily strong" group of films which prompted passionate deliberations.
Twenty-two films from around the world are competing for prizes in the festival's main competition. Winners will be announced Sunday.
