(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-27 15:38

Sandra Corveloni won the best actress prize Sunday at the Cannes film festival for a performance as a pregnant single mother of four in the Brazilian megalopolis Sao Paulo in "Line of Passage."

Corveloni, in her first feature film role in the movie co-directed by Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas, plays housemaid Clueza, whose sons battle against the odds to avoid falling into a life of crime.

"I'm proud to be in a profession that reflects what a nation is," she said as she accepted the prize from French actor Jean Reno at a star-studded ceremony on the French Riviera.

The 43-year-old has played in some short films but her career has been dominated by her theatre work.

Using a mostly non-professional cast, "Line of Passage" is a follow-up to "Foreign Land" by the same two directors which also focuses on the difficulties of life in the lower reaches of Sao Paulo.

Salles is best known internationally for "The Motorcycle Diaries," his film about Che Guevara's epic trip across Latin America.