A film about astronauts unexpectedly stuck on the space station due to the outbreak of nuclear war on Earth, Black was described by the jury as having a firm script with laconic dialogue in which every word counts.

"The minimalist black-and-white design and the boldly simple use of computer graphics combine to create a surprisingly emotional product," the jury said.

The audience award is just the latest accolade for Nighthawk, a Slovenian-Croatian co-production which has already won accolades at festivals in Leipzig, Tallinn and Krakow.

The sardonic film about the imagined exploits of a drunk badger has also been selected for screening at Sundance as the only second Slovenian film ever to be featured at the American festival.

The awards were confirmed on Saturday evening, but film screenings continue on Sunday, when all the winning films will be screened once again.

Through the festival 398 films have been screened, of which nine feature-length. The programming focus was on 3D animation.