Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical coming-of-age drama “The Fabelmans” won the Toronto International Film Festival’s top prize, the People’s Choice Award, solidifying its early status as Academy Awards frontrunner.
Toronto’s audience award was announced Sunday as the largest North American film festival wrapped up its 47th edition and first full-scale gathering in three years. The return of crowds at TIFF brought the world premieres of a number of anticipated crowd pleasers, including the Viola Davis-led “The Woman King,” Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and Billy Eichner’s “Bros.”
Toronto’s audience award, voted on by festival moviegoers, is a much-watched harbinger of the coming awards season. Each of the last ten years, the TIFF winner has gone on to be nominated for best picture at the Oscars — and often won it. Last year, Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” triumphed at a much-diminished hybrid Toronto International Film Festival. The year before that, Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” took TIFF’s award before winning at the Academy Awards. Other past winners include “12 Years a Slave,” “La La Land” and “Green Book.”
This year, no film came into the festival more anticipated than “The Fabelmans,” Spielberg’s memory-infused film about his childhood. In the movie, which Universal Pictures will release Nov. 11, Michelle Williams and Paul Dano play the parents, with newcomer Gabriel LaBelle as teenage Spielberg, Sammy Fabelman. The film scored rave reviews after its premiere.
“This is the most personal film I’ve made and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF so intimate and personal for me and my entire ‘Fabelman’ family,’” Spielberg said in a statement read by Cameron Bailey, festival director.
The first runner-up to the prize was Sarah Polley’s “Woman Talking,” about the female members of a Mennonite colony gathered to discuss years of sexual abuse. The second runner-up went to Johnson’s “Glass Onion,” the director’s whodunit sequel for Netflix.
Audience in other sections of the festival also vote for People’s Choice awards. The festival’s audience prize for documentary went to “Black Ice,” Hubert Davis’ film about the history of Black hockey players executive produced by LeBron James. The midnight section winner was “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” Eric Appel’s music biopic parody co-written with Yankovic and starring Daniel Radcliffe.
“Wow,” said Appel in a statement. “I never in a million years thought that our satire of traditional awards films would actually win an award, itself.”
Here’s a rundown of Toronto Film Festival award winners, runners up and honorable mentions:
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS
For the 45th year, the People’s Choice Awards distinguish the audience’s top title at the Festival as voted by the viewing public. All films in TIFF’s Official Selection were eligible.
The TIFF 2022 People’s Choice Award winner is The Fabelmans dir. Steven Spielberg
The first runner-up is Women Talking dir. Sarah Polley
The second runner-up is Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery dir. Rian Johnson
The TIFF 2022 People’s Choice Documentary Award winner is Black Ice dir. Hubert Davis
The second runner-up is Maya and the Wave dir. Stephanie Johnes
The second runner-up is 752 is not a Number dir. Babak Payami.
The TIFF 2022 People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award winner is Weird: The Al Yankovic Story dir. Eric Appel
The first runner-up is Pearl dir. Ti West.
The second runner-up is The Blackening dir. Tim Story
PLATFORM PRIZE
Named after Jia Zhang-ke’s trailblazing second feature, Platform is the Toronto International Film Festival’s competitive program championing bold directorial visions. Platform was curated by Anita Lee, Chief Programming Officer; and Robyn Citizen, Director, Festival Programming and TIFF Cinematheque. The Platform Prize Jury members for 2022 are Patricia Rozema (Jury Chair), Iram Haq, and Chaitanya Tamhane and they are delighted to announce that their selection is Riceboy Sleeps, dir. Anthony Shim.
The Platform jury provided this statement: “The 2022 TIFF Platform Jury announces the unanimous choice for the Platform Prize — Riceboy Sleeps, written and directed by Anthony Shim for its deeply moving story and precisely-observed characters as they navigate racism, dislocation, family, and love. It balances social realism with pure poetry. Plus, it’s very funny. The leads Choi Seung-yoon (2022 TIFF Rising Stars), Ethan Hwang, and Dohyun Noel Hwang deserve top honors. Riceboy Sleeps touches on, in a most accessible way, some of humanity’s biggest challenges — how to merge cultures without erasing individuals, how to grow up whole in fragmented families, and how to defend ourselves from internalizing the subtle and not so subtle discriminations of the privileged.”
SHAWN MENDES FOUNDATION CHANGEMAKER AWARD
Presented by the Shawn Mendes Foundation, the 2022 Changemaker Award is awarded to a Festival film that tackles issues of social change, and comes with a $10,000 cash prize. The winning film was selected by TIFF’s Next Wave Committee, a group of young film lovers who recognize cinema’s power to transform the world. The Shawn Mendes Foundation will also be making an annual contribution in support of TIFF Next Wave, helping TIFF deliver key initiatives to elevate young voices.
The 2022 jurors for the Changemaker Award are members of TIFF’s Next Wave Committee: Naiya Forrester, Arjun Persaud, Norah Daudi, Honora Murphy, Ellie Tripp, Celina Tang, Simona Williams, Faven Tesfamichael, Tara Sidhu, Keertan Somasundaram, Maggie Kane, and Dev Desai.
The 2022 Changemaker Award is presented to Luis De Filippis’ Something You Said Last Night. Director De Filippis (2018 TIFF Filmmaker Lab, 2020 TIFF Talent Accelerator) offered this statement: “It is an honour to have Something You Said Last Night be acknowledged by the next generation of filmmakers. Thank you to the Next Wave Committee for seeing this story. I am so excited to watch you lead our industry in the coming years. Thank you to the team behind this film who supported, and believed, and put their all into it, even on the bad days — which there were a few. It’s hard not to ignore the building tide of new voices this year at TIFF, and I am so happy to see our stories finally being told and celebrated — a new wave is coming.”
TIFF’s Next Wave Committee provided this statement: “The TIFF Next Wave Committee announces Luis De Filippis as the 2022 Shawn Mendes Foundation Changemaker Award recipient for her debut feature Something You Said Last Night, an honest, immersive, and intensely relatable portrayal of an Italian Canadian family on a summer vacation. Ren (Carmen Madonia, 2022 TIFF Rising Stars) is a character unlike any other we’ve seen. She is talented, she is struggling, she is flawed, she is loved, she is passionate, and she is accepted. She is all of these things, and she is also a young trans woman finding her place in the world. Created with queer and trans creators in front and behind the camera, Something You Said Last Night finds its power in the complex, imperfect truth of humans and our relationships with family. With her film, Luis De Filippis is changing the game — giving a voice to trans people along the way, and creating a future where queer representation exists beyond the one-dimensional stories and characters we’ve seen over and over again. We hope the visibility and recognition of this award will help more young people see and be inspired by the film like we were, and support De Filippis in her development and journey as a filmmaker.”
AMPLIFY VOICES AWARDS
This year, Canada Goose presents the Amplify Voices Awards to the three best feature films by under-represented filmmakers. All feature films in Official Selection by emerging filmmakers who are Black or Indigenous or persons of color and Canadian, were eligible for these awards, and the three winners will receive a cash prize of $10,000 each, made possible by Canada Goose.
The three Amplify Voices Awards presented by Canada Goose winners are:
Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Feature Film: To Kill A Tiger, dir. Nisha Pahuja
Jury’s statement: “It’s not easy to film love. In Nisha Pahuja’s To Kill A Tiger, a father defends his daughter, and together they change a village, a country and, maybe, the world.”
Special Mention for Best Canadian Feature Film: Viking, dir. Stéphane Lafleur
Jury’s statement: “The jury would like to acknowledge Stéphane Lafleur’s brilliant satire, Viking, exploring the intersection of technology and ego.”
Amplify Voices Award: Leonor Will Never Die, dir. Martika Ramirez Escobar
Jury’s statement: “Leonor Will Never Die, for its original voice, made by a fearless filmmaker who knows how to bring the fun and an incredible lead performance. This film is truly one of one.”
Amplify Voices Award: While We Watched, dir. Vinay Shukla
Jury’s statement: “While We Watched is a compelling, urgent film that collapses our differences. It is a wake-up call to how perilous and fragile the relationship between a free press and democracy is everywhere.”
Special Mention for Best Feature from an Emerging BIPOC Filmmaker: Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On, dir. Madison Thomas.
Jury’s statement: The jury would also like to give special mention to Madison Thomas’s Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On, because “everyone should know about Buffy Sainte-Marie.”
The 2022 jurors for the Amplify Voices Awards presented by Canada Goose are Ann Marie Fleming, Anne Emond, Nathan Morlando, Jennifer Holness, Albert Shin, and Luisa Alvarez Restrepo.
FIPRESCI PRIZE
The 2022 FIPRESCI jury members include: Andrew Kendall, Marriska Fernandes, Márcio Sallem, Andrea Crozzoli, and Max Borg. The jury is delighted to announce Basil Khalil’s A Gaza Weekend as this year’s FIPRESCI winner.
The 2022 FIPRESCI jury released the following statement: “For its empathy and intelligence in capturing the zeitgeist, and with its daring approach to contemporary satire and world cinema, we award Basil Khalil’s A Gaza Weekend the 2022 FIPRESCI Prize. Basil Khalil’s direction finds space for the more sorrowful, more tender moments of interpersonal crises even as he deftly escalates the bawdy humor on display, capturing the nature of survival as very serious and very funny business for these characters.”
NETPAC AWARD
The 2022 NETPAC jury members include: Ida Yoshinaga and Diana Ashimova. TIFF is delighted to announce that the 2022 NETPAC Jury has selected Sweet As, dir. Jub Clerc as this year’s NETPAC winner.
The 2022 NETPAC jury released the following statement: “A model road film in all aspects with great locations and a strong cast, Jub Clerc’s Sweet As convincingly tells the story of an Indigenous girl on a youth-therapy bus tour — dealing with family, friendship, inspiration and self-identity.”
SHORT CUTS AWARDS
The 2022 IMDbPro Short Cuts Awards are for Best Film, Best Canadian Film, and the Share Her Journey Award for best film by a woman. Each winning film will receive a bursary of $10,000 CAD and a one-year membership to IMDbPro.
The winners of the three awards are:
IMDbPro Short Cuts Award for Best Film: Snow in September, dir. Lkhagvadulam (Dulmaa) Purev-Ochir.
Jury’s statement: “Told through a bold and sophisticated lens, this tense yet poignant portrayal follows a young man’s shift from wide-eyed boy to yearning pursuer. The jury is pleased to present the IMDbPro Short Cuts Award for Best Short Film to Snow in September directed by Mongolia’s Lkhagvadulam (Dulmaa) Purev-Ochir.”
Honorable Mention:
For its wildly entertaining and incredibly realized portrait of a flight attendant’s personal crisis, the jury is very pleased to present an honorable mention for the IMDbPro Short Cuts Award for Best Short Film to Airhostess-737 by director Thanasis Neofotistos. Centred on Lena Papaligoura’s impressive performance, the film is an unhinged, compelling, and memorable tragicomedy.
IMDbPro Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Film: Simo, dir. Aziz Zoromba
Jury’s statement: “Featuring convincing, natural performances and tight direction, the film astutely plays off of narrative conventions to deliver an unexpectedly tender take on growing up in an all-male immigrant family. The jury is delighted to give the IMDbPro Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short to Aziz Zoromba for Simo.”
Honorable Mention:
For its intensely taut and pulsating tale following an aging delivery driver’s movement through a gritty, desperate night in the city, the jury is pleased to present an honorable mention for the IMDbPro Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Film to Same Old by director Lloyd Lee Choi.
IMDbPro Short Cuts Share Her Journey Award: Nanitic, dir. Carol Nguyen (2022 TIFF Filmmaker Lab)
Jury’s statement: “With skill, precision, and sensitivity, this film stood out for its delicate and assured portrayal of love and sacrifice within a multi-generational household. The jury is thrilled to give the IMDbPro Short Cuts Share Her Journey Award to Carol Nguyen for Nanitic.”
The 2022 jurors for the IMDbPro Short Cuts Awards are Sally Lee, Thyrone Tommy, and Lisa Haller.
