CANNES: Romanian director Cristian Nemescu died in a car accident in August 2006 when in his mid-twenties. While alive, he made a mark for himself as the hope of Romanian cinema. His film California Dreamin was screened as part of the UN Certain Regard Section of the Festival.

The jury headed by Pascale Ferran and consisting of Italian actress Jasmine Trinca, Chinese critic Qin Bian, Romanian Cristi Puiu, and American critic Kent Jones decided to posthumously confer on him the prestigious Prix for California Dreamin.

Nemescu's film focuses on events during the war in Kosovo in 1999 when the head of the railway station in a small Romanian village stops a Nato train transporting military equipment. Supervised by US soldiers, it is crossing Romania without official documents and with only verbal approval from the Romanian government.

Ferran pointed out that Nemescu's effort was "by far the most vibrant and most free cinematic offer that we have seen during the past 10 days." Initially, the jury were hesitant to let the film compete - as the director was no more - but decided in favour of allowing to be a part of the competition following its screening.

The jury decided to award one of the most applauded films in the UN Certain Regard - Isreali helmer Eran Kolirin's Bikur Hatzimoret - with a Coup De Coeur du Jury prize while Actrices by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi won a special prize from the jury.

There were 20 movies in competition for this prize and this jury bestowed the UN Certain Regard prize for best film on young talents and awards on two other films for innovative and daring works.