A film about Asian gangsters partly shot in Barnet has scooped an award at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Triads, Yardies and Onion Bhajees!, written by and starring 29-year-old Manish Patel, was selected to represent British independent cinema at the festival and won the Black and Asian Film Awards prize of best picture.

"It was amazing phenomenal," said Mr Patel, of Rossiter Fields, Barnet. "And Dave Courtney a former associate of the Krays and who plays a crime godfather in the film got nicked five minutes before the premiere he crashed a rental car into a pavilion. We managed to get him out for the second half of the film."

The film shot entirely in black and white beat off competition from nine other films, including Anita and Me, written by star comedian Meera Syal. Mr Patel said it was the first to depict Asians operating in London's gangland.

It takes the true story of a multimillion-dollar robbery at Heathrow Airport as the catalyst for a wave of violence and intrigue across the capital.

"I am tired of seeing films on arranged marriages and identity crisis.

"We have to make real films," said Mr Patel.

Triads, Yardies and Onion Bhajees! is based on his first novel, the Stone Shiva, which was published last August.

It is the first full-length feature to be directed by Sarjit Bains, who made his name editing trailers for films such as Traffi

May 29, 2003 11:00