The winners at the 44th Annual Toronto International Film Festival.
The IWC Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film went to Chloé Robichaud for Delphine.
An honourable mention went to Theodore Ushev’s The Physics of Sorrow for its impressive filmmaking and detailed craftsmanship.
IWC Short Cuts Award for Best Short Film Lasse Linder for All Cats Are Grey in the Dark.
An honourable mention went to Federico Luis Tachella’s The Nap.
The City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film was given to Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century. The jury stated, “Rankin’s debut feature is superb in its imaginative wildness, taking an otherwise staid historical Canadian figure and propelling him into the heart of one of the most creative, visual, and compelling experiences of the Festival.”
The Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film was awarded to Sophie Deraspe’s Antigone. The jury said that “Antigone stands out on its own as an electrifying piece of cinema. Tackling with vigour contemporary realities of immigration in Canada through the framework of Greek tragedy, Deraspe created magnificent onscreen humanism. It is imperative to point out Nahéma Ricci’s performance, reminiscent of Renée Falconetti’s Jeanne d’Arc.” The jury gave an honourable mention to Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn’s The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open.
Selected by a jury from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Pacific Cinema (NETPAC), the NETPAC Award went to Oualid Mouaness’ 1982. The jury remarked that this film was elected “for its adventurous, imaginative style and subtle, confident filmmaking, bravely juxtaposing and framing the universal innocence and charm of youth within harrowing historical context.”
This year marked the 42nd year that Toronto audiences were able to cast a ballot for their favourite Festival film for the Grolsch People’s Choice Award. This year, audiences chose Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit as the recipient. The first runner-up was Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, and the second runner-up was Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite. The Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award went to Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s The Platform. The first runner-up for this was Andrew Patterson’s The Vast of Night, and the second runner-up was Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum. Finally, the Grolsch People’s Choice Documentary Award was given to The Cave, directed by Feras Fayyad. The first runner-up was Garin Hovannisian’s I Am Not Alone, and the second runner-up was Bryce Dallas Howard’s Dads.
The 45th Annual Toronoto International Film Festival will take place September 10th-September 20th, 2020.