We’ll always have Venice. Vatican awards film prize…

The Vatican awarded its annual cinema prize to Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yuan, saying his movies have depicted people’s search for spiritual meaning.

U.S. Archbishop John P. Foley, head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, presented the Bresson Prize to Zhang at the Venice Film Festival Sept. 5.

The 43-year-old filmmaker said he was honored and hoped that the award would be "the first building block of a bridge" that connects the cultures of the Vatican and China.

Archbishop Foley said Zhang was chosen because his films showed great sensitivity to "the difficult course that every person must face in the search for the spiritual sense of existence." He said Zhang’s work expressed realism and hope.