Juno, a film directed by Montreal-born Jason Reitman and starring Canadian actress Ellen Page, has won the best film prize at the Rome film festival.

Page stars as Juno MacGuff, a sharp-witted 16-year-old who tries to find suitable parents to adopt her unborn child. The film also features Jason Bateman and Brampton's Michael Cera, both former stars of TV's Arrested Development.

Director Jason Reitman holds the Best Film award for Juno, starring Canadian actress Ellen Page in the title role, at Rome's film festival on Saturday.
(Sandro Pace/Associated Press)

"The film hit the members of the jury with emotion," organizers said. Reitman, 30, last directed the satire Thank You For Smoking back in 2005.

The second annual Cinema Roma Fest granted Rade Sherbedgia the best actor award for his performance in the Canadian-Greek film Fugitive Pieces by Jeremy Podeswa. The film opened the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Sherbedgia was hailed for playing his role "in a believable and sensitive fashion."

Fugitive Pieces is based on a 1996 bestselling novel by Canadian writer Anne Michaels. It chronicles the story of a Jewish man who, as a child in Poland, witnessed his family's massacre during the Second World War. After he escapes, he is rescued by a Greek archeologist (played by Sherbedgia), who proceeds to raise him as his own son in Greece and Canada.

Jiang Wenli captured the best actress trophy for her role in the Chinese film Li Chun (The Arrival of Spring ) by Gu Changwei. Wenli portrays a frustrated artist who decides to follow a different path.

Meanwhile, Iranian director Abolfazl Jalili was handed a special prize for the film Hafez, for his "innovative use of storytelling."

A 50-member jury of movie-goers selected this year's winners, lead by Bosnian director Danis Tanovic.

More than 170 films from 33 countries were screened during the 10-day festival which ends Saturday.