Actor George Clooney was honoured at the festival

Jellysmoke, shot in a total of 25 days around the schedule of Barbershop star Michael Ealy, won $50,000 (�27,350).

The first Spirit of Independence award was presented to actor George Clooney.

Clooney, who starred in Batman and Robin in 1997, joked that he was glad that the franchise has returned to form with current release Batman Begins.

The Ocean's Twelve star said he was relieved he was "no longer responsible for the Batman franchise".

Batman and Robin was a critical failure, which led Clooney to openly admit that he had killed off the comic book franchise.

However, it has been revived by the current prequel, starring Britain's Christian Bale, which has topped the US box office for the second consecutive week.

Documentary award

The documentary award at the film festival was won by Everyone Their Grain Of Sand, the story of of Mexican squatter community. Its director Beth Bird received a prize of $50,000.

Jellysmoke has yet to win a distribution deal, but director Mark Banning said the subject matter of a man striving against the odds for "what he wants" should have universal appeal.

"Simply put, [he] tries to get through every day, surrounded by his family that is either in denial or doesn't know how to help him, in his quest for what everyone else wants, this notion to connect with another person," said Banning.

Bipolar is a condition in which the sufferer experiences extreme mood swings.