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TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2010--'THE KING'S SPEECH' IS PEOPLE'S CHOICE Send This Review to a Friend
The buzz all week at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival (September 9-19) was that one of the very special films on the roster was “The King’s Speech,” Tom Hooper’s drama about the effort to eradicate the stammer of Britain’s King George VI. The popularity was confirmed with the announcement that the Cadillac People’s Choice Award, calculated based on votes from audience members, was indeed given to “The King’s Speech.” The prize includes a cash award of $15,000 under the Cadillac sponsorship. Justin Chadwick’s “First Grader” was runner-up.
There were other People’s Choice awards as well, including the Midnight Madness Award to Jim Mickle’s “Stake Land,” an American entry with a vampire theme, and the Documentary Award to Sturla Gunnarsson’s Canadian film, “Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie,” about a renowned environmentalist.
The Toronto Fest doesn’t give out awards per se, but there are numerous parallel ones under various auspices. For example, the prize for Best Canadian Feature Film awarded by the City of Toronto went to “Incendies,” directed bv Denis Villeneuve, a tale involving immigration and war. The Skyy Vodka Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film was given to Deborah Chow’s “The High Cost of Living,” and the award for Best Canadian Short Film went to Vincent Biron’s “Les Fleurs de l’âge.”
International film critics attending also had their say. The FIPRESCI prize for the Festival’s Discovery program was award to Shawn Ku for “Beautiful Boy,” and the organization’s award for Special Presentations went to Pierre Thoretton of France for “L’Amour Fou.”
The honors were announced at a closing reception hosted by the Intercontinental Toronto Centre Hotel.
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