A Zebra Riding Boy, a film adapted from two short tales - Cavalryman and Paper - penned by prestigious novelist Su Tong, has recently taken home three awards from the 10th Vancouver Chinese Film Festival in Canada.

Co-produced by Fan Xiaotian and Chen Juzhi, the movie marks the acting debut of young artists Guo Junchen, Li Kaixin and Xie Chengze. With the Maple Leaf Award for Best Directorial Debut going to Fan and Chen, actor Guo won the Most Popular Actor award and Xie snapped the Best New Artist award.

Featuring the distinctive characteristics of southern China, the art-house flick navigates the spiritual world of actor Xie who portrays Zuo Lin, a youngster who dreams of becoming a happy "cavalryman" despite his battles against some societal bias because of his bowed legs.

As a nonprofit overseas Chinese film festival aiming to promote Chinese-language movies to go abroad, the annual event - which has drawn more than 1,000 entries to compete for its awards - was held between Aug 8 and 13.

Before earning recognition in Canada, the film has participated in 16 international film festivals at home and abroad, winning some awards including the Special Jury Award at the 55th Houston International Film Festival earlier this year and the Best Screenplay Award at the 13th Macao International Movie Festival last year.