Pan's Labyrinth grabs U.S. film critics' prize

A Mexican film about a girl's fantasy world set during Spain's fascist era in 1944has nabbed the best picture prize for 2006 from the U.S. National Society of Film Critics.

Pan's Labyrinth, directed by Guillermo del Toro, beat out two other strong contenders: the Romanian drama The Death of Mr. Lazarescu and Clint Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima.

The society is made up of 45 members, all critics from major publications across the U.S.For 41 years, the society hasmet at Sardi's restaurant in New York on a Saturday night to hash out their favourites of the year.The meeting always takes place ahead of the Academy Awards, which occur on Feb. 25 this year.

Other honours include best actor to Forest Whitaker for his portrayal of dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland and British actress Helen Mirren in The Queen. Peter Morgan won best screenplay for Mirren's film, which focuses on Queen Elizabeth's reaction after the death of Princess Diana.

Both Whitaker and Mirren have already captured honours from both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Circle, as well as being nominated for Screen Actors Guild prizes.

Paul Greengrass was given the best director title for United 93 —about the passengers who rebelled against hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001 — while An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's documentary about global warming, was given the non-fiction film prize.

Meryl Streep was given her due for two supporting roles: as the exacting magazine editor in The Devil Wears Prada and as a singer in A Prairie Home Companion, directed by the late Robert Altman.

This year's awards were dedicated to Altman, who died in November from complications due to cancer. He made more than 30 films, including M*A*S*H (1970), McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), Nashville (1975) and The Player (1992).