Washington, DC [US], September 14 : Acclaimed director Chloe Zhao's film 'Hamnet' captured the Toronto International Film Festival's highly coveted People's Choice Award, strengthening its Oscar chances, according to Variety.
In addition, Zhao is the first director to win the award twice, coming after her 2020 victory for "Nomadland."
Since the Academy expanded the Best Picture field in 2009, TIFF Audience Award winners have become reliable Oscar barometers. Films such as 'Green Book' (2018) and 'Nomadland' (2020) went on to claim the top prize, while others like 'The Fabelmans' (2022) factored heavily into awards season. Only one winner, 'Where Do We Go Now?' (2011), failed to secure a best picture nom.
The people's choice category was created in 1978. Seven recipients won best picture at the Oscars, with five of those victories coming in the past two decades, as reported by Variety.
Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' was the first runner-up for the Canadian prize, which was followed by Rian Johnson's 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery' in the third place spot. The audience prize for documentary went to "The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue" from Barry Avrich.
The International People's Choice winner was Park Chan-wook's South Korean "No Other Choice," ahead of runner-up "Sentimental Value" from Norwegian director Joachim Trier, as reported by Variety.
The Toronto Film Festival's 50th edition was one of its starriest in years.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor