The Canadian feature film "I Killed My Mother" ("J'ai tue ma mere") directed by Xavier Dolan-Tadros won the Grand Prix at the seventh edition of the Zagreb Film Festival, the festival's organisers announced at a news conference on Saturday.

The jury decided to give the award to this film "for its sincerity and courage shown." The film focuses on 16-year-old Hubert Minel, and his explosive clashes with his mother.

"This is a drama that speaks about relations between family members and the thin line separating love from hate. The director’s endeavour to make this film has spurred us to look within ourselves. We would also like to point out the excellent performance by the main actors which greatly contributed to the film atmosphere," says a statement on the festival's web site.

This is the latest accolade for 20-year-old Xavier Dolan-Tadros, who wrote, directed and stars in the semi-autobiographical film that drew raves at Cannes earlier this year. It has also been chosen as Canada's bid for an Oscar in the best foreign-language film category.

The Golden Pram award for the best short film was shared by two films: "Missing" by Jochem de Vries from the Netherlands and "Every Day Is Not the Same" by Martin Turk from Slovenia.

"La Vida Loca" by Christian Poveda won the Golden Pram award for best documentary film.

Zagreb Film Festival took place in the Croatian capital between 18 and 24 October.