RABAT, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The movie "Joy" by Austrian director Sudabeh Mortezai won Saturday the Golden Star at the 17th Edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival in Morocco.

The movie features the story of a young Nigerian woman who got caught into the vicious cycle of sex trafficking.

The jury chaired by U.S. director, James Gray, gave its Jury Award to Mexican movie "La Camarista" by Lila Aviles.

The Best Directing Prize was awarded to Serbian director Ognjen Glavonic for his movie "The Load."

As for the Best Actor and Best Actress awards, they have been given to Tunisian actor Nidhal Saadi and German actress Aenne Schwarz, respectively, for their roles in the movies "Regard Moi" and "All Good."

The 17th edition of the festival paid tribute to three big names in the world and local cinemas, namely the American actor Robert De Niro, French director Agnes Varda, and Moroccan director Jillali Ferhati.

The Marrakech International Film Festival was founded by Moroccan King Mohammed VI in 2001 to promote arts and film industry in the country.