Stephen Daldry movie Trash wins Rome Film Festival award

The film follows three boys living in a Rio de Janeiro slum

A scene from Stephen Daldry's new film 'Trash' (Press Handout)

Stephen Daldry’s new film Trash, named after three litter-picking boys in Rio de Janeiro’s slums, has won the top prize at the Rome Film Festival.

The film, which is written by Richard Curtis, follows a trio of teenage boys as they decide what to do with a wallet after finding it among the daily rubbish in their local dump.

Starring Rickson Tevez, Luis Eduardo and Gabriel Weinstein, who have no previous acting experience before, the film also features well-known names Rooney Mara and Martin Sheen.

The US actors play a pair of missionaries who help the boys after they realise they can’t trust the police.

The film is based on Andy Mulligan’s young adult novel of the same name, which was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards but was overruled because of its “adult content”.

Stephen Daldry’s previous films include Billy Elliot (2000), The Hours (2002), The Reader (2008) and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011).

The Rome festival’s top prize was chosen by a public vote for the first time after the event dropped the jury system.