The 24th annual Vancouver International Film Festival went out on a high October 14. The winners were announced before the gala screening of the closing-night film, the Belgian L'Enfant-a bit of a downer, really-at the Vogue Theatre. Remarkably, most of the winners had something to do with childhood and its extremes.

The Georgia Straight-sponsored Eve & the Fire Horse won for most popular Canadian feature film. Julia Kwan's tartly charming recollection of growing up in the Vancouver of the 1970s, due back in theatres next January, snagged the most audience votes.

The clear winner of the people's choice award for most popular international film was Live and Become, a saga of childhood travel coproduced by French and Israeli filmmakers. In the nonfiction category, the juried National Film Board award for best documentary went to Italy's A Particular Silence, Stefano Rulli's poignant diary of parents' attempts to connect with their autistic son.

Another jury gave the Dragons and Tigers award for young cinema to Ox Hide, from China's Liu Jiayin.

Winnipeg's Sean Garrity snagged the Citytv western Canada feature-film award for his dark-edged Lucid, while Jamie Travis was given the Bravo!Fact award for best young director of a western Canadian film, for "Patterns". Women in Film & Video Vancouver gave its award to Carly Pope for her academically inclined Lolita in The Hamster Cage.