A Vietnamese-made film about a female gangster has won a major prize at the Film Festival of Globe 2015 that concluded in the U.S. on Sunday, newswire Vietnamplus reported Monday.

Huong Ga (Rise), a flick about a gangster woman named Dieu in the early 2000s, played by famed actress Truong Ngoc Anh, won the Best Feature Southeast Asia Panorama award at the festival that opened in California on August 7. Anh also won the Best Actress Award for her role.

“This is great happiness for us as we did not think we would be so lucky to win the prize. But this also shows that we have produced an appealing artwork that touched people's hearts,” film director Cuong Ngo said.

“Anh contributed a huge amount of effort.”

As the 90-minute film’s producer, Anh said she was proud to have her work rewarded.

"A prize for the film and another for the main actress mean the jury and specialists highly appreciated our movie," she said.

Rise, which was first screened in October 2014, also won three prizes including Best Cinema Work, Best Actress and Best Director at the 2014 Golden Kite Awards held in March by the Vietnam Cinema Association. The Film Festival of Globe 2015 introduced 100 short films, documentaries, and feature films up to 120 minutes in length submitted by independent filmmakers from 30 countries around the world.

Submissions were juried by a panel of industry professionals, and winners chosen according to content, innovation, and technical execution.

The event was attended by many celebrities from Bollywood, Hollywood, and the world’s top movie makers.

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