Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- ``The Elite Squad,'' a film by director Jose Padilha that portrays police corruption and drugs in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, won the Golden Bear award for the best movie at the Berlin Film Festival.

The movie depicts a police officer, Nascimento, trying to find his successor to lead a rapid-response force charged with bringing law and order to a slum, or favela, ruled by drug dealers. Shot mainly with handheld cameras, the film is based on the book ``Tropa de Elite'' by Luiz Eduardo Soares.

``This is a prize for Brazilian film, not just for me,'' Padilha said after tonight's award ceremony in Berlin. ``This is recognition I did not expect. It is an incentive to make new, critical films that are very important for our country.''

The winner was selected from 21 films by a six-member international jury led by movie director Constantin Costa-Gavras. The Silver Bear runner-up award went to Errol Morris's ``Standard Operating Procedure,'' a documentary examining the story behind the photos of U.S. torture at the Iraqi prison of Abu Ghraib.

The Iranian actor Reza Najie won a Silver Bear as best actor for his role in ``The Song of Sparrows,'' a film by Majid Majidi. Najie plays a man who must find a way to earn his family's keep after losing his job on an ostrich farm.

Sally Hawkins won the best actress Silver Bear for her portrayal of Poppy, an irrepressibly cheerful London teacher in Mike Leigh's upbeat comedy ``Happy-Go-Lucky.''

Oil and Blood

The best director award went to Paul Thomas Anderson for ``There Will Be Blood,'' the story of a ruthlessly ambitious oil baron inspired by Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel ``Oil!'' The movie has already been nominated for eight Oscars, including the best picture award and best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis.

Jonny Greenwood, the guitarist for the band Radiohead, won an award for outstanding artistic contribution in recognition of his eerily intense score for ``There Will Be Blood.''

The Silver Bear for the best script went to Wang Xiaoshuai for ``In Love We Trust,'' a moving film about two couples and a child suffering from leukemia set in Beijing. The Alfred Bauer Prize, which honors a movie that is cinematically innovative, went to ``Lake Tahoe,'' a Mexican film by Fernando Eimbcke about a 16-year-old boy who escapes his home in the family car.

To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Hickley in Berlin at chickley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 16, 2008 15:55 EST