VENICE: On a night of surprises at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, China's "Still Life," about the giant Three Gorges Dam project and its impact on ordinary people, won the top award and Hollywood's Ben Affleck was named best actor.

But Briton Helen Mirren was crowned best actress as expected for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in "The Queen," a movie on how Princess Diana's unexpected death in 1997 threw the royal family into crisis.

Director Jia Zhang-ke kisses the Golden Lion at the Cinema Palace in Venice September 9, 2006. Jia's movie 'Still Life' won Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion top prize on Saturday. [Reuters]

Directed by independent film maker Jia Zhangke, "Still Life" was a late entry into the main competition but swept aside hot favourites for the Golden Lion like "The Queen," Emilio Estevez's "Bobby" and Emanuele Crialese's "Golden Door."

The award ceremony on the glamorous Lido beach front wrapped up an 11-day movie marathon with more than 20 premieres in the main competition and dozens of other screenings.

"Still Life" (Sanxia Haoren) was shot in the village of Fengjie, which has since been submerged in water to make way for the Three Gorges Dam.

It recounts two stories of local people in times of relocation and their emotional upheavals.

At a news conference earlier in the festival, Jia said he was keen to spotlight the problems associated with the dam now that media attention had faded.

Speaking through a translator, Jia said: "We all know there is major change going on in China and I wanted to get more people to know what's happening. I will continue to make films along these lines and explore the problems of the weaker social classes."

Mirren praised director Stephen Frears for his work on "The Queen," in which Prime Minister Tony Blair's role in convincing the monarch to throw away royal protocol and grieve with the people is also examined.

"It's an incredible honour to have a film take its first steps here in Venice," Mirren said at the prize ceremony. "Stephen Frears is the mother of the film. I'm just a bit of the DNA of this film."

The best screenplay prize went to Peter Morgan of "The Queen." He said his story was faithful to actual events but not an exact historical reconstruction.

Collecting his prize, Morgan joked: "Thank you Tony Blair for timing your political disintegration with the release of our film," referring to growing speculation that the long-time leader could step down soon.

Another surprise was in store in the best actor category, which went to US heartthrob Ben Affleck for his performance as 1950s Superman actor George Reeves in "Hollywoodland."

Veteran French film maker Alain Resnais won best director for the critically acclaimed "Private Fears in Public Places" and the special jury prize went to "Daratt," Chad's first ever entry in the prestigious competition.

"Golden Door," about a Sicilian family of illiterate peasants who travel to the United States in search of a better life, did not go away empty handed, but the prize for the "revelation" of the festival may disappoint critics who lavished it with praise.

Estevez's "Bobby" failed to live up to award expectations, despite a stellar cast including Sharon Stone, Demi Moore, Anthony Hopkins and Lindsay Lohan.

The ensemble piece about guests staying at the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, when Robert Kennedy was gunned down there in 1968, is seen by journalists as the only film appearing in Venice with a decent chance of winning the best picture Oscar.