Yojiro Takita’s “Okuribito” (Departures) won top honors at the 2008 edition of the Montreal World Film Festival, taking home the grand prize of the Americas.

Starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, the drama focuses on a cellist who loses his job and decides to move back to his hometown, where he starts to work as the local undertaker.

Meanwhile, the jury awarded its special prize to Benoît Pilon’s Canadian drama “Ce qu’il faut pour vivre” (The Necessities of Life), about an Inuit hunter who forms a special bond with a youngster while he’s being treated for tuberculosis at a sanatorium in Quebec.

Goran Markovic picked up the best director award for “Turneja” (The Tour), while Barbara Sukowa won the best actress award for her performance in Ulla Wagner’s “Die Entdeckung der Currywurst” (The Invention of the Curried Sausage).

Eri Canete received the award for best actor for his work in Walter Doehner’s “El Viaje de Teo” (Teo’s Voyage).

Click right here for the full list of the Montreal World Film Festival Awards!

Photo above shows the festival's jury. Courtesy of Sylvain Legaré.