Abu Dhabi, Oct 23 (IANS): British director Kim Longinotto's "Pink Saris" bagged the best documentary Friday at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival and the director says she will use the prize money to help the girls who featured in her film.

Longinotto shared the prize money of ($100,000) with director Patricio Guzmán whose film "Nostalgia For The Light" was also declared the best documentary.

"Pink Saris" depicts the evils of child marriage and the caste conflict in the interiors of northern India - and a woman's fight to bring about change.

In her docu-drama shot in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Longinotto shows how families often marry off girls at a young age, how they are mistreated by their in-laws - physically abused by the husband and sometimes raped by the father-in-law - and how often caste conflict plays a villain for lovers.

The film revolves around 50-year-old Sampat Pal, founder leader of a women vigilante group called 'Gulabi Gang' in Banda district, and the four victims Rekha, Renu, Niranjan and Rampyari.

The director, who was not available to collect the award, sent a message that she will use the prize money in making the future of the girls in the film better.