Havana, Cuba - British director Paul Laverty won the Jury Prize for Best Screenplay at the San Sebastian International Film Festival for the film Yuli, inspired by the life of Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta.

The presentation in the competition of this work, by the Spanish director Iciar Bollaín received in the specialized press descriptions of luminous, emotional and dazzling, published today Cubadebate.

The jury decided to award Laverty ex aequo with Louis Garrel and Jean-Claude Carriere for Un hombre fiel, while the Golden Shell went to the film Entre dos aguas, by the Catalan Isaki Lacuesta, which narrates the reunion of two gypsy brothers: one sentenced to prison for drug trafficking and the other to military service.

Upon receiving the prize for best script, Paul Laverty denounced the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States against Cuba.

In his speech, he said that only the United States and Israel support the embargo, "two experts in punishing the civilian population.

"We have to end this blockade, which is a disgrace," he said.

Yuli has an artistic cast headed by Acosta himself, along with Santiago Alfonso, Laura de la Uz, Yerlín Pérez, Kevin Martínez and the boy Edilson Manuel Olbera, among other actors.

The dancer's company, Acosta Danza, also participates in the film with an emotion reinforced by a musical composition by Alberto Iglesias, the source adds.

The San Sebastian International Film Festival closed on Saturday with the premiere of Bad Times in the Royale, the second film by American Drew Goddard, a criminal thriller starring Australian actor Chris Hemsworth.