“La Bola Negra” won the Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award on Sunday, while “Angh” took the Platform Award and became eligible for Oscars consideration under new rules.
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“La Bola Negra” won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, capping the final day of the festival’s 51st edition.
TIFF screened 294 films over 11 days, and the People’s Choice Award was one of a dozen prizes handed out Sunday. The award is often seen as a strong signal of awards-season momentum.
Directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known collectively as “Los Javis,” were not at the ceremony. In a note read by TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey, they said the film’s significance lies in how important it is to express who you are, and that connecting with audiences was the greatest gift. Bailey said they were in Spain promoting the film.
“La Bola Negra,” about the interconnected lives of three gay men in Spain, stars Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close and Miguel Bernardeau. The film had its world premiere at Cannes in the spring, where Calvo and Ambrossi shared the best director prize with Paweł Pawlikowski for “Fatherland.”
The Platform Award went to “Angh,” directed by Theja Rio. The jury prize carries a $20,000 purse. The film tells the story of the last surviving chief of a Nagaland village on the Indo-Burma border.
Rio said on the red carpet that he wanted to make a film about where he comes from so voices from his background would be heard. He said being at TIFF and winning the Platform Award was a dream come true, while adding that the Oscars possibility remains distant.
For the first time, the Platform Award also offers a direct path to Academy Awards eligibility. This year, the Academy expanded its criteria for best international feature to include winners of qualifying awards at international film festivals, in addition to the traditional country submission system. To qualify, at least half of a film must be in a language other than English; “Angh,” which is mostly in Konyak, meets that requirement.
Best Canadian Discovery went to Cody Lightning for his sophomore feature “Smudge the Blades.” Accepting the award, Lightning said he had a heavy heart because his mother, also a filmmaker, died several weeks earlier, and he dedicated the honour to her.
Best Canadian feature went to “Sunburn” by Serville Poblete, a coming-of-age story about a group of kids from Toronto’s Bleecker Street neighbourhood. “Elsinore” won the International People’s Choice Award for Simon Stone, and “Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney” won Midnight Madness.
Barry Avrich’s “Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been” won the documentary prize, giving him a second straight win after “The Road Between Us” last year. The FIPRESCI Prize went to “Ancestors” by Irish writer-director David Turpin, and the NETPAC award went to “Thirteen in Gaza” by Hosam Abu Dan.
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