Love's Brother wins

October 26, 2004 - 11:06AM

Love's Brother, a romantic drama set in Australia, won the $US50,000 ($A67,000) grand prize at the Heartland Film Festival.

Director Jan Sardi and actor Adam Garcia accepted the prize during a gala on Saturday night. The festival honours filmmakers who create movies that portray positive, life-affirming messages.

"What I am always looking for as a writer and filmmaker is time to do the sort of stories that are important to me, and those stories aren't always the sort of no-brainers that studios want to develop and throw money at," said Sardi, the Oscar-nominated writer of the screenplay for Shine.

Garcia and Giovanni Ribisi portray two Italian immigrant brothers struggling to build new lives in post-World War II Australia, and one will not marry his girlfriend until the other finds a mail-order bride.

"It's really sweet and, for me, it's a very sedate and staid performance," Garcia said.

"More importantly, it inspired me to the world of independent films."

- AP

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