(XINHUA)

Chinese actress Zhao Tao won the best actress prize at Italy's David di Donatello 2012 Awards on May 4. Zhao received the award for her leading role in Io Sono Li, a movie co-produced by China and Italy, becoming the first Asian to win the prestigious Italian award.

"The movie was a perfect example of joint cinematic efforts by Italians and Chinese," said Zhao. "I think the movie has succeeded in showing how people from two different cultures learn from each other at a profound level."

Directed by Andrea Segre from Italy, Io Sono Li is a love story between a Chinese immigrant who works as a barmaid in the Venice lagoon town of Chioggia, and a local fisherman nicknamed The Poet. In 2011, the movie was screened in the Venice Days section of the 68th Venice International Film Festival.

Zhao, 34, was born in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. She enrolled in the folk dance department at Beijing Dance Academy in 1996. After graduation, she became a dance teacher in Taiyuan Normal University. She gained instant fame for her performance in Chinese director Jia Zhangke's movie Platform. Her most famous films include Unknown Pleasures, The World, and Still Life.