Bruno Ganz portrays Hitler's final days in his bunker

Director Oliver Hirschbiegel flew from Vienna to attend a ceremony hosted by Jonathan Ross at London's National Film Theatre and shown live on BBC Four.

The film reconstructs Hitler's final days in his bunker and the events that lead to the end of World War II.

Controller BBC Four, Janice Hadlow, said it was "extraordinary and brave" because of the story it told and "how it captured the public imagination".

"The judges must have found it challenging to pick a winner from such a diverse range of brilliant films," she added.

Actress Amanda Donohoe, critic Jonathan Romney and producer and director Stephen Woolley chose the winner from a shortlist of six films nominated by the UK's leading critics, film-school heads and festival directors.

Hirschbiegel is now working on a thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.

The winner of the World Cinema Award last year was Russian drama The Return (Vozvrashchenie).