Amirul Islam: The Spanish film ‘La Bola Negra’ has won the ‘People’s Choice Award’, the highest honor at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). It was recognized as the best film of this year’s edition by audience votes.
Set against the backdrop of nearly 85 years of Spanish history, ‘La Bola Negra’ tells the life stories of three gay men across three different periods—1932, 1937, and 2017. The film was inspired by four pages of an unfinished work by Spanish poet and playwright Federico GarcÃa Lorca and directed by the duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known as ‘Los Javis’.
Meanwhile, the Platform Prize at the festival was won by ‘Ang’, directed by young filmmaker Theja Rio from Nagaland, India. This recognition gives the film an opportunity to be considered for the Oscars.
The awards were presented on Sunday (September 20) at noon local time at Cinema-1, TIFF Lightbox, the venue of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Notable Winners of the 51st Toronto International Film Festival—
People’s Choice Award
Best Film: ‘La Bola Negra’ — Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (Spain)
First Runner-up: ‘I Play Rocky’ — Peter Farrelly (USA)
Second Runner-up: ‘Being Human’ — Sian Heder (USA)
International People’s Choice Award
Best Film: ‘Elsinore’ — Simon Stone (Switzerland)
First Runner-up: ‘Possible Love’ — Lee Chang-dong (South Korea)
Second Runner-up: ‘The Assassins’ — Hur Jin-ho (South Korea)
People’s Choice Documentary Award
Best Documentary: ‘Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been’ — Barry Avrich (Canada)
First Runner-up: ‘Black Sunflowers’ — James Marcus Haney (USA)
Second Runner-up: ‘The Ultra Runner’ — Mila Aung-Thwin (Canada)
People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award
Best Film: ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney’ — Mathew Rankin (Canada)
First Runner-up: ‘The Spiral’ — Paolo Strippoli (Italy)
Second Runner-up: ‘Arrested Memory’ — Sabu (Japan)
