The award comes with a purse of EUR 10,000. The jury said the film told the story of the main protagonist simply and skilfully, while still avoiding the commonplace.
North was also named the festival's best film by the student jury, who said it mixed absurd and authentic scenes to present northern depression, telling a story free of pathos but with plenty of emotion.
The Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur's film White Night won the audience prize.
Kormákur, whose film Bloodline won the Breaking Waves award at last year's Titanic, was also on the festival jury, together with the Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi and the cinematographer Gergely Pohárnok.
Eight films competed for the main award at this year's festival. They were among 55 films from 26 countries on the programme, shown at the Uránia National Film Theatre, the KINO, the Toldi Cinema and the Örökmozgó Film Museum.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
