Peter Farrelly’s 1960s-era road-trip comedy drama Green Book,co-starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali has won the main People’s Choice Award at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. The movie is based on a true story of musician Don Shirley’s 1962 tour of the American South, for which the celebrated black pianist hired a white driver, Tony (Lip) Vallelonga, because he was unable to travel safely alone. Here are complete TIFF 2018 winners
THE GROLSCH PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
Winner: Peter Farrelly’s Green Book
First runner-up: Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk
Second runner-up: Alfonso Cuarón’s ROMA
The award offers a $15,000 cash prize and custom award, sponsored by Grolsch.
THE GROLSCH PEOPLE’S CHOICE MIDNIGHT MADNESS AWARD
Winner: Vasan Bala’s The Man Who Feels No Pain (Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota)
First runner-up: David Gordon Green’s Halloween
Second runner-up: Sam Levinson’s Assassination Nation
THE GROLSCH PEOPLE’S CHOICE DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Winner: E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s Free Solo
First runner-up: Tom Donahue’s This Changes Everything
Second runner-up: John Chester’s The Biggest Little Farm
TORONTO PLATFORM PRIZE PRESENTED BY AIR FRANCE
Winner: Wi Ding Ho’s Cities of Last Things
Jury remarks: “This is a deeply moving drama from a director who shows great skill in his ability to weave together multiple genres with social and political critique, while telling a story that remains intimately human at its core. For us, this film has a spirit that always feels beautifully close to real life.”
Honourable Mention: Emir Baigazin’s The River
Jury remarks: “We were completely absorbed by the singular world this film creates through precise and meticulous craft, breathtaking visuals, and a boldly patient yet engrossing observational style.”
THE PRIZE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF FILM CRITICS (FIPRESCI PRIZE)
Winner – Discovery Programme: Carmel Winters’ Float Like a Butterfly?
Jury remarks: “Float Like a Butterfly is a pastoral and traditional bucolic film, capturing the familiar angst and anxiety a young adult woman undergoes in order to have her say in the scheme of things in a predominately male-driven patriarchal society. Through her spectacular and deft narrative, nuanced understanding of the dilemmas women face, and a pitch-perfect performance by Hazel Doupe, this film is a triumph of free spirit.”
Honourable Mention: Laura Luchetti’s Twin Flower
THE PRIZE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF FILM CRITICS (FIPRESCI PRIZE)
Winner – Special Presentations: Guy Nattiv’s Skin
Jury remarks: “Skin is a gripping study of a group of extremists and the choices available to them. It’s raw yet intelligently paced, with stunning performances, especially by a near-unrecognizable Vera Farmiga.”
Honourable Mention: Louis Garrel’s A Faithful Man
NETPAC AWARD
Winner: Ash Mayfair’s The Third Wife
Jury remarks: “Ash Mayfair’s debut feature The Third Wife signalled the emergence of a young female director-writer whose aesthetic sensibilities, cinematic language, and extraordinary ability to illuminate the past for contemporary audiences augur well for the future of Vietnamese and world cinema.”
Honourable Mention: Bai Xue’s The Crossing
Jury remarks: “Bai Xue’s storytelling in her debut film The Crossing shattered cinematic boundaries to create an original visual language that propelled her protagonist’s emotional crossing into adulthood as she crossed the physical boundaries of Hong Kong into mainland China.”
EURIMAGES’ AUDENTIA AWARD
Winner: Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian’s Fig Tree
Jury remarks: “Fig Tree is a stunning and illuminating debut. Based on her own experiences, Ethiopian-Israeli writer-director Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian takes us on an unsentimental journey and shows us the tragic effects of civil war on ordinary people. Confidently directed with grit and compassion, Fig Tree is a beautifully rendered, big-hearted story about a Jewish teenage girl’s attempt to save those she loves, but it’s also an intimate coming-of-age story of self-discovery and female empowerment.”
Honourable Mention: Camilla Strøm Henriksen’s Phoenix
Jury remarks: “Phoenix is a courageous debut from Norwegian director Camilla Strøm Henriksen. A visually arresting and emotionally nuanced film, Phoenix focuses on a young teen who assumes an enormous burden of responsibility in the face of her mother’s mental illness and her father’s absence. With a seamless blend of stark realism and cinematic magic realism, Henriksen’s story subtly, yet powerfully, unfolds from the perspective of her mature young protagonist.”
The Audentia Award for Best Female Director, presented by The Festival and the Council of Europe’s Eurimages Fund, carries a €30,000 cash prize.
IWC SHORT CUTS AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN SHORT FILM
Winner: Meryam Joobeur’s Brotherhood
Jury remarks: “The film was masterfully executed, layered with bold ideas, rich textures, and nuanced character observations played by an unforgettable cast. The film successfully explored complex personal and political themes with compassion for its characters. By employing the intimate prism of a Tunisian family, the film was evidently made with a sense of maturity that points to a bright future from Meryam Joobeur.”
The award offers a $10,000 cash prize, made possible by IWC Schaffhausen.
Honourable Mention: The jury awarded a special mention to Jérémy Comte’s Fauve for its confident visual storytelling and moving performances from the child actors.
IWC SHORT CUTS AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM
Winner: Sandhya Suri’s The Field
Jury remarks: “The film is striking for its aesthetic lyricism, tender performances, and powerful emotional impact. It’s a unique and refreshing glimpse into female desire set in rural India that demonstrated a scope greater than its short format.”
The award offers a $10,000 cash prize, made possible by IWC Schaffhausen.
Honourable Mentions: Anette Sidor’s Fuck You, for its acutely observed study of teenage sexuality, and to Emma de Swaef and Marc James Roels’s This Magnificent Cake!, for the spectacular level of animation and the surreal humour it uses to explore its complex colonial subject matter.
CITY OF TORONTO AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FIRST FEATURE FILM
Winner: Katherine Jerkovic’s Roads in February (Les routes en février)
Jury remarks: “For its warm portrayal of a young woman trying to reconnect with her distant heritage after her father’s untimely death, and for the way the film demonstrates how genuine human connections best develop between two individuals when they stand on common ground, the jury gives the City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film to Katherine Jerkovic’s Les routes en février (Roads in February).”
CANADA GOOSE® AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM
Winner: Sébastien Pilote’s The Fireflies Are Gone (La disparition des lucioles)
Jury remarks: “For its true-to-life depiction of a young woman’s quest to find meaning and hope in a world that has constantly disappointed her, the jury gives the Canada Goose® Award for Best Canadian Feature Film to Sébastien Pilote’s La disparition des lucioles (The Fireflies Are Gone).”
Highlights
TIFF Reveals Plans for Industry Conference
Films by Shekhar Kapur and Shubham Yogi Selected for Toronto Gala
A Selection to Die for
Le Musk: A Brave New Frontier in Cinema
The Path finder: Jyoti Deshpande
Toonz to Honour Aabid Surti, Biren Ghose at Animation Masters Summit
India is the Country of Honour at Cannes
RAVINDRA VELHAL: DRIVING MEDIA TRANSFORMATION
THE PATH FINDER: JYOTI DESHPANDE
INTO THE WORLD OF RRR
Powerkids Appoints Manoj Mishra as CEO
Toonz Join Tunche Films to Co-Produce Spanish-Peruvian Animation Feature Kayara
National Museum of Indian Cinema Hosts Vintage Vehicles
I&B Secretary promises Govt’s Support to Film industry
Tom Cruise’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ to Blaze at Cannes
Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru is the Annecy Festival Opener
Now, Shoot at Sight in India!
Lata Mangeshkar, India’s Singing Goddess
Quantum Image Making Has Arrived
Indian Films To Look Out For In 2022
2022: Centenary of Indian Cinema Legends
Singing Legend Lata Mangeshkar, Nightangale of India, Dies at 92
Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series Ventures Into OTT Content Creation Space
What’s India Looking for at European Film Market