''GREEN BOOK'' : '*PGA BEST FILM AWARD*'

LOS ANGELES : Civil rights drama-comedy Green Book took home best film at the Producers Guild Awards last Saturday, boosting its chances at next month's Oscars after it picked up three wins at the Golden Globes.

The film starring  Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen best Roma, A Star is Born, The Favourite Black Panther, BlackKkKlansman, Crazy Rich Asians, A Quiet Place, Vice and Bohemian Rhapsody, which won the top award at Globes.

''Green Book'' recounts the unlikely friendship between Don Shirley, a black piano virtuoso, and his driver, Tony :Lip, during a concert tour through through the segragated Deep South in 1962.

''I don't need awards,'' producer-director Peter Farrelly said, according to industry magazine Variety. ''This like  Warren Buffet winning the lottery. I'm damn thankful.''

The win came despite recent controversies around the film including the reemergence of  an anti-Muslim tweet from 2015 by sceenwriter Nick Vallenlonga  [the  late Tony Lip's son], for which he profusely apologised. last week.

Farrelly was himself in deep hot water earlier this month because of stories in several media outlets from 1998 recounting his habit of flashing his genitals as a prank.

Among other notable categories, the best animated film went to ''Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse,'' ''The Americans'' won top TV drama and ''The Marvellous Mrs Maisel'' won the comedy series award.

The PGA is more low-key affair than the Golden Globes, but is seen as more accurate bellwether for the Oscars, with their top awards aligning in 20 of its 29 years.

That includes ''The Shape of Water'' last year, though in 2017 the PGA's best film went to ''La La Land'' while ''Moonlight'' won the Oscars.

The Academy Awards nomination will be announced on Jan 22 with the ceremony itself on Feb 24. [AFP]