“Where Do We Go Now?” a bittersweet comedy set in war-torn Lebanon, bested two well-received entries starring George Clooney to win the people’s choice award Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The Cadillac People’s Choice award, which also includes a C$15,000 cash prize, is voted on by festival audiences and has typically been regarded as a bellwether for Oscar success.
Lebanese-Canadian director-actress Nadine Labaki’s feminist film about village women bent on keeping their hotheaded men out of a religious war was chosen earlier this month as Lebanon’s 2011 entry in the best foreign language film category for the Academy Awards.
Labaki, who also stars in the film, was traveling in Europe when she heard the news, which was announced Sunday at a closing brunch for the 11-day festival.
Festival programmer Rasha Salti accepted the award on the filmmaker’s behalf, reading a statement sent by Labaki from an airport in Germany.
“I’m thrilled, I’m happy, I’m ecstatic, I’m excited — my day that had just started on the wrong foot because of a flight cancellation has just been turned upside down,” the 37-year-old Labaki said in her statement.
“I’m running around jumping up and down at the Frankfurt airport. Tomorrow we’ll be screening ‘Where Do We Go Now?’ for the first time in Lebanon and I will be proud and happy to announce the news in front of my crew, my family and the Lebanese audience.”
Festival director Piers Handling noted it was a surprise triumph for a film that was overshadowed by heavily promoted, star-studded Hollywood films. These included Clooney’s two films, “The Descendants” and “The Ides of March.”
“We have some very, very high-profile films here at the festival and ones that a lot of people are talking about and I’m sure will go on to awards,” said Handling. “But Nadine’s film obviously connected with the public in a significant way because it was a clear, clear winner.”
Last year’s fans’ pick, “The King’s Speech,” went on to take four Oscars, including best picture, and the 2008 people’s choice winner, “Slumdog Millionaire,” took best picture and seven other Oscars.
Quebec director Philippe Falardeau’s “Monsieur Lazhar,” about an Algerian schoolteacher in Quebec and his relationship with two students, won the award for best Canadian feature and a C$30,000 prize.
The best first Canadian feature award, which includes a C$15,000 prize, went to director Nathan Morlando’s period piece “Edwin Boyd,” starring Scott Speedman as the notorious Canadian bank robber.
“Where Do We Go Now?” garnered rave reviews at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it screened on the margins of the official competition. It follows Labaki’s feature “Caramel,” a sweet love story set in a Beirut beauty salon, which was Lebanon’s entry for the 2007 best foreign language film Oscar.
Set in a remote village where the church and the mosque stand side by side, “Where Do We Go Now?” follows the antics of the town’s women to keep their blowhard men from starting a religious war. Women heartsick over sons, husbands and fathers lost to previous flare-ups unite to distract their men with clever ruses, from faking a miracle to hiring a troop of Ukrainian strippers.
Labaki wrote the screenplay for the film which was shot on location in three remote Lebanese villages with a cast made up almost entirely of nonprofessional actors. Labaki, who is married to the film’s compoer, Khaled Mouzannar, also included a handful of old-school song-and-dance numbers that buoy the mood.
Director Dag Johan Haugerud’s “Dreams (Sex Love)” Wins Top Prize At The Berlin Film Festival
A Norwegian film about love, desire and self-discovery won top honors at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday.
A jury headed by American director Todd Haynes awarded the Golden Bear trophy to "Dreams (Sex Love)" by director Dag Johan Haugerud.
Haynes called it a "meditation on love" that "cuts you to the quick with its keen intelligence."
The film focuses on a teenager played by Ella Øverbyer, infatuated with her female French teacher, and the reactions of her mother and grandmother when they discover her private writings. It's the third part of a trilogy Haugerud has completed in the past year. "Sex" premiered at Berlin in 2024, and "Love" was screened at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
The runner-up Silver Bear prize went to Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro's dystopian drama "The Blue Trail." Argentine director Ivan Fund's rural saga "The Message" won the third-place Jury Prize.
The best director prize went to Huo Meng for "Living the Land," set in fast-changing 1990s China.
Rose Byrne was named best performer for her role as an overwhelmed mother in the Mary Bronstein-directed "If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You." Andrew Scott won the supporting performer trophy for playing composer Richard Rodgers in Richard Linklater's "Blue Moon."
The climax of the festival known as the Berlinale came on the eve of Germany's parliamentary elections after a campaign dominated by migration and the economy.
The national election is being held seven months early, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition collapsed in a dispute about how to revitalize the country's economy.
Efforts to curb migration have emerged as a central issue in the campaign — along with the question of how to handle the... Read More