The BlackBerry People’s Choice Award (as voted on by Festival audiences):
Silver Linings Playbook directed by David O. Russell (USA)
Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Julia Stiles and Jennifer Lawrence star in this acerbic comedy-drama from David O. Russell (Three Kings, The Fighter), about a former high-school teacher who returns to his family home after eight months in a mental institution and begins to slowly rebuild his life.
First Runner Up: Argo directed by Ben Affleck (USA)
Second Runner Up: Zaytoun directed by Eran Riklis (UK, Israel, France)
The BlackBerry People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award:
Seven Psychopaths directed by Martin McDonagh (USA, UK)
A screenwriter (Colin Farrell) struggling to write a serial-killer script gets more real-life inspiration than he can handle when a dognapping scheme gone awry brings a galaxy of crazies to his doorstep. A top-notch cult-movie cast — including Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Tom Waits, Harry Dean Stanton — anchors this wacky, blood-spattered commentary on the psycho-killer thriller from the writer-director of In Bruges.
First Runner Up: The Bay directed by Barry Levinson (USA)
Second Runner Up: John Dies at the End directed by Don Coscarelli (USA)
The BlackBerry People’s Choice Documentary Award:
Artifact directed by Bartholomew Cubbins (USA)
Telling harsh truths about the modern music business, Artifact gives intimate access to singer/actor Jared Leto and his band Thirty Seconds to Mars as they battle their label in a brutal lawsuit and record their album This Is War. The film is a true artifact of our times, as its subjects struggle with big questions over art, money and integrity.
First Runner Up: Storm Surfers 3D directed by Christopher Nelius and Justin McMillan (Australia)
Second Runner Up: Revolution directed by Rob Stewart (Canada)
NETPAC Award for the Best World or International Asian Feature Film Premiere:
The Land of Hope directed by Sion Sono (Japan)
Prolific Japanese director Sion Sono departs from his usual style for this movingly restrained drama of a rural family’s struggle to survive in the aftermath of the Tōhoku earthquake and the resulting nuclear crisis.
The City of Toronto + Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film:
Laurence Anyways directed by Xavier Dolan (Canada, France)
The third feature from Montreal’s Xavier Dolan (J’ai tué ma mère, Les Amours imaginaires) centres on a young bohemian couple whose defiantly exclusive relationship is sent spiraling when the man, Laurence, confesses that he believes he’s transgendered. This audacious and searing mediation on love and sexuality is shot in hyper-florid style and driven by gutsy performances.
The SKYY Vodka Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film:
TIE BETWEEN:
Antiviral directed by Brandon Cronenberg (Canada)
The debut film from Brandon Cronenberg is a prescient and chilling vision of a dystopian future where celebrity obsession has gone to literally sick extremes.
AND
Blackbird directed by Jason Buxton (Canada)
An alienated teenager’s posturing online threat ignites a firestorm of fear in a small community, in this disturbing and perceptive look at how our media-fuelled, post-Columbine culture of fear can transform typical teen angst into intimations of murder.
FIPRESCI Prize for Special Presentations:
Dans la maison (In The House) directed byFrançois Ozon(France)
Kristin Scott Thomas and Emmanuelle Seigner star in the new film from French auteur François Ozon (Under the Sand, 8 Women), about a high-school student whose essays about a friend’s family start to blur the lines between reality and fiction — and may conceal a dark purpose.
FIPRESCI Prize for the Discovery programme:
Call Girl directed by Mikael Marcimain (Sweden, Ireland, Norway, Finland)
The debut feature from Mikael Marcimain is a fascinating policier based on the real-life prostitution scandal that threatened to topple the Swedish government in the 1970s.
Award for Best Canadian Short Film:
Keep a Modest Head directed by Deco Dawson (Canada)
Jean Benoît, the last official member of the French Surrealist group, receives Deco Dawson’s signature visual treatment in this biographical documentary that fantastically illustrates the artist’s formative (and highly sexual) childhood memories.
Honorable Mention: Crackin’ Down Hard directed by Mike Clattenburg (Canada)
Grolsch Film Works Discovery Award:
Detroit Unleaded directed by Rola Nashef (USA)
An ambitious Lebanese-American youth is forced to take over his family’s gas station after his father’s death, in this spirited and often hilarious coming-of-age tale from first-time feature director Rola Nashef.
* All film synopses and trailers from the film’s official TIFF webpage.
