LEAD: 'Nagai Sanpo' wins Grand Prix at Montreal film festival

TOKYO, Sept. 5 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING INFO, DETAILS THROUGHOUT)

The film ''Nagai Sanpo'' (A Long Walk) directed by Japanese actor Eiji Okuda has won the Grand Prix at the Montreal World Film Festival, the film's distributor said Tuesday.

The piece also won the international critics prize at the 30th film festival, held from Aug. 24 to Monday.

The 136-minute film, starring Ken Ogata, Saki Takaoka and others, depicts the journey of an old school principal who neglected his family, and a 5-year-old girl living next door who had been abused.

''Everyone in the world wants real love. It was a great pleasure to be able to prove that,'' Okuda said in a released statement.

The film will be distributed in Japan in December.

Okuda, who has received numerous prizes for his acting, debuted as a film director in 2001 with ''Shoujyo'' (An Adolescent) which won the Grand Prix at the Paris International Film Festival in 2002.

It was followed by ''Runin'' (Banished), released in 2004. ''Nagai Sanpo'' is his third long film.

The Montreal film festival has awarded numerous prizes to Japanese films and their casts and crews in the past.

Ken Takakura won the Best Actor award in 1999 for his role in ''Poppoya'' (Railman), while ''The Milkwoman'' (Itsuka Dokusho Suruhi) directed by Akira Ogata was given the Special Grand Prix of the Jury in 2005.

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