Duncan Tucker wins Deauville screenwriting prize for Transamerica

Paul Haggis took home the grand prize Sunday night at the 31st Deauville Festival of American Film for his directing debut, Crash.

The ensemble look at race relations in Los Angeles, is the first time behind the camera for the Million Dollar Baby screenwriter and will be released in France this week by Metropolitan.

The jury prize was split between Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik's On The Outs and Lodge Kerrigan's Keane. The latter, a difficult look at losing a child, generated strong buzz when it ran in Directors Fortnight at Cannes and will be released by ARP Selection on September 21. It also took the international critics prize. On The Outs is being handled by La Fabrique de Films.

Duncan Tucker took the screenwriting prize for his Transamerica starring Felicity Huffman as a pre-operative transsexual who learns she fathered a son during a long ago heterosexual experience.

The jury was presided over by French director Alain Corneau surrounded by directors Dominik Moll and Brigitte Rouan and actors Dominique Blanc and Melvil Poupaud among others.

The audience award went to Andy Fickman's musical Reefer Madness while a new prize given by Canal Plus was awarded to Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room by Alex Gibney. The film ran in the Uncle Sam's Docs sidebar.

The Michel d'Ornano prize was awarded to Karin Albou's La Petite Jerusalem which had a berth in Critics Week this year in Cannes.

Veteran writer Budd Schulberg also came to town to as the winner of the literary prize. The 91-year old was honored with a dinner Thursday night and stayed through Sunday to receive the honor on the main stage. Schulberg's works include On The Waterfront and What Makes Sammy Run?

Among other highlights of the week-long festival were the appearances of such talent as Ron Howard, Pierce Brosnan, Forest Whitaker, Abel Ferrara and Kirsten Dunst.