Former partner of Tom Cruise Penelope Cruz was named best actress at the European Film Awards in Warsaw, Poland. 

The film, The Lives of Others, about a secret policeman in the former East Germany,  won best film.

It beat the Spanish film Volver by Pedro Almodovar - which still took five awards, including best director and best actress for  Cruz.

It is the first time the ceremony was held in an eastern European country.

Filmmaker Roman Polanski returned to his homeland to receive a lifetime achievement award.

The Lives of Others is a drama about how East Germany’s secret police, the Stasi, destroyed the lives of ordinary people.

Director Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck told the audience it meant a lot to win the award in Poland, “since my father was born in this country”.

Another director returning to his roots was Roman Polanski.

The Oscar-winning director said it was a moving experience for him to return to Poland.

He dedicated the award to Penelope Cruz and her co-stars, actresses who he said represented “the incredible women that surrounded me when I was a child”.

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