Malaysian Chinese film-maker Tan Chui Mui was the big winner when the major awards were announced Friday at South Korea's Busan International Film Festival.

Tan was named joint-winner of the festival's featured New Currents award for best new Asian film-maker, along with China's Yang Heng.

And the 28-year-old's romance "Love Conquers All'' was also handed the FIPRESCI Award for best new Asian film, which is decided by the International Federation of Film Critics.

Described by New Currents jury chairman, the Oscar-winning Hungarian director Istvan Szabo, as a "beautiful" film, "Love Conquers All" follows a young woman who moves to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur from the northern city of Penang and has to deal with the loneliness of the big city.

It is Tan's first feature film and the one-time newspaper columnist said she was both surprised and delighted by the news.

"It is very nice but it has all been a rush," she told AFP . "This is great exposure for me and my film, and it is a great opportunity that Busan gives to Asian film-makers," she said.