MUMBAI: Stuart Hazeldine‘s Exam has bagged the Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema at the 25th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Sunday.

Starring Luke Mably and Nathalie Cox, the film is a psychological thriller about eight candidates competing for a job at a mysterious corporation.

The best international film award went to the Finish feature Letters to Father Jacob that was directed by Klaus Haro. Ciro Guerra‘s The Wind Journeys took the Nueva Vision Award for best Spanish/Latin American film. The East Meets West Cinema Award went to South Korea‘s Mother (Madeo) directed by Bong Joon-ho while the Eastern Bloc award was awarded to Peter Strickland‘s Katalin Varga.

Rob Lemkin‘s Enemies of the People which returns to the killing fields of Cambodia, was named the best documentary. The documentary also claimed the Fund for Santa Barbara Social Justice Award, that for a non-fiction film that addresses social issues.