Toronto Film Festival 2014 Winners: 'The Imitation Game' Wins People's Choice Award, Become Oscar Favorite
"The Imitation Game" has won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, making it the front-runner to go home with the Oscar in February.
After a week of festivities and over 300 premieres, Toronto has come to an end with many films disappointing and others surprising. At the start of the festival, pundits noted that there was no clear front-runner in the awards race. However, after the recent victory, the race seems a bit clearer.
"The Imitation Game," which had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, had a lot of buzz out of the Colorado festival and was noted as one of the films to watch at TIFF.
The latest win for the movie is significant as the People's Choice has been an award that many Best Picture Oscar winners take before claiming the Academy Award. Last year "12 Years a Slave" won the award before going home with the Oscar and left the festival with huge buzz.
"The King's Speech," "Slumdog Millionaire" and "American Beauty" were also among the films to take home the award.
However, many Best Picture winners that premiere at Toronto do not necessarily win the People's Choice. Unlike most festivals, the award is decided by the audience instead of a jury. Back in 2012, "Argo" went home with a front runner award losing out to Oscar nominee "Silver Linings Playbook." "The Artist" was not even awarded a runner-up position and lost to the Lebanon film "Where do We Go Now?" "The Hurt Locker" premiered at Toronto a year before the Oscar win and lost to eventual Oscar winner "Slumdog Millionaire."
"The Imitation Game" is currently the front-runner especially after winning the award and also premiering to rave reviews. However, there are still six months before the Oscars and a number of films have yet to premiere including Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice," David Fincher's "Gone Girl" and Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken."
The first runner-up award went to "Learning to Drive," which was directed by Isable Coixet and stars Patricia Clarkson. The Bill Murray film "St. Vincent" went home with the second runner-up prize.
In the Documentary category, the People's Choice Award went to "Beats of the Antonov," directed by Hajooj Kuka. The first runner-up was awarded to "Do I Sound Gay?" by director David Thorpe and second runner-up went to "Seymour: An Introduction." That film was directed by Ethan Hawke and premiered to rave reviews at the Telluride Film Festival.
The Midnight Madness sidebar People's Choice Award went to "What We Do in the Shadows," which was directed by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement.
Kevin James' "Tusk" won the first runner-up after scoring positive reviews after its premiere. The second runner-up went to "Big Game," directed by Jalmari Helander
Other big winners included "Felix and Meira," which won the Best Canadian Feature Film award, and "Bang Bang Baby," which won Best Canadian First Feature Film.
The Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Special Presentations Section went to "Time Out of Mind," directed by Oren Moverman. The movie next stops at the New York Film Festival and is still in search of distribution.
The Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Discovery Section was awarded to "May Allah Bless France!," which was directed by Abd Al Malik.
"Margarita, With a Straw," won the ETPAC Award For Best Asian Film while "A Single Body" won the Best International Short Film. The Best Canadian Short Film was awarded to "The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer."