Kannada film "Thithi" on Saturday won Asia New Talent Awards for best film and best script writer during the on-going 19th Shanghai International Film Festival in China.

Thithi is a light-hearted story about three generations of men reacting to the death of the family's 101-year-old patriarch.

The film's cast were non-professional actors from Indian villages, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Best director went to Chen Yujie from China's Taiwan for the film "Lost Daughter".

Thai movie "The Island Funeral" won best cinematographer.

Hong Kong director Derek Tung-Sing Yee chaired this year's Asia New Talent Awards.

Yee hoped the awards could support independent films and encourage young film makers to follow their artistic desires, rather than catering to the market and box office blindly.

The Asia New Talent Awards, dedicated to rewarding new- comers to the Asian film industry, began in 2004 as an important competition section in addition to the Golden Goblet Awards.