The 51st Toronto International Film Festival has officially wrapped, and the winners are in! At a live press conference at TIFF Lightbox, the Festival revealed 12 awards celebrating standout films and breakout talent. La Bola Negra, directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, took home the top People’s Choice Award presented by Rogers, while Angh, directed by Theja Rio, won the Platform Prize.

There’s a historic first this year too: winning TIFF’s Platform Prize now gives a non-English-language film direct eligibility for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, putting TIFF among just six qualifying festivals with a direct pathway to the Oscars.

Over 11 days, TIFF presented 294 films from 72 countries, welcomed more than 800 talent across 98 red carpets, and hosted 2,000 accredited media, close to 7,000 TIFF: The Market delegates and 279 directors from around the world.

People’s Choice Awards Presented by Rogers

Launched in 1978, the People’s Choice Award is voted on by Toronto’s famously passionate audiences. It now spans four categories: overall, International, Documentary and Midnight Madness.

People’s Choice Award

• Winner: La Bola Negra, dirs. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi
• First runner-up: I Play Rocky, dir. Peter Farrelly
• Second runner-up: Being Heumann, dir. Siân Heder

International People’s Choice Award

• Winner: Elsinore, dir. Simon Stone
• First runner-up: Possible Love, dir. Lee Chang-dong
• Second runner-up: The Assassin(s), dir. Hur Jin-ho

People’s Choice Documentary Award

• Winner: Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been, dir. Barry Avrich
• First runner-up: Black Sunflowers, dir. James Marcus Haney
• Second runner-up: The Ultra Runner, dir. Mila Aung-Thwin

People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award

• Winner: Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney, dir. Matthew Rankin
• First runner-up: The Spiral, dir. Paolo Strippoli
• Second runner-up: Arrested Memory, dir. SABU

Good news if you missed them: the People’s Choice winners screen for free at the Lightbox, starting at 12pm today.

Platform Prize

Launched in 2015 and inspired by Jia Zhang-ke’s groundbreaking film, the Platform Prize honours filmmakers with strong directorial vision and distinctive storytelling. With its new Oscar-qualifying status, the 2026 Platform programme expanded to 12 films. A five-member international jury led by President Pablo Trapero, alongside Amma Asante, Sylvia Chang, Luc Déry and Albert Lee, chose the winner of the $20,000 CAD prize.

• Platform Prize: Angh, dir. Theja Rio (India). The jury praised its refreshing perspective, strength of filmmaking and deeply resonant portrait of a world, along with the filmmaker’s vision, audacity and courage.
• Special Jury Award: Brace Your Heart (Garrat Du Váimmu), dir. Amanda Kernell (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Bulgaria). The jury singled out its apparent simplicity, powerful central performance and beautiful visual journey.

Best Canadian Feature Film Award

This award honours the craft and storytelling of Canadian cinema (excluding first and second features) and comes with a $10,000 CAD prize. The jury: Hubert Davis, Deepa Mehta and Christina Rogers.

• Winner: Sunburn, dir. Serville Poblete. The jury called it vibrant, funny and deeply human, bringing fresh, visceral energy to Toronto, and hailed Poblete as a young filmmaker with a distinctive voice.
• Honourable Mention: Man in Motion: The Rick Hansen Story, dir. Adrian Buitenhuis

Best Canadian Discovery Award

Celebrating the next generation of Canadian filmmakers, this award recognizes a first or second feature and carries a $10,000 CAD prize. The jury: Zarrar Kahn, Justine Pimlott and Sophy Romvari.

• Winner: Smudge the Blades, dir. Cody Lightning. The jury described it as electric, funny and furious, with Indigenous voices at the centre of a story rooted in joy, resilience and community.
• Honourable Mention: The Black Box is Orange, dir. Yuula Benivolski

Short Cuts Awards

Each of the three Short Cuts winners receives a $10,000 CAD bursary. The jurors this year were Joecar Hanna, Chris Lavis and Iris Ng.

• Best International Short Film: MAMMALIA, dir. Elia Kalogianni (Greece, Netherlands). Honourable Mention: The Spectacular Death of Prisca, dir. Kaelo Iyizoba (Nigeria).
• Best Canadian Short Film: Fight Kid, dir. Michael Del Monte. Honourable Mention: Almost Pink, dir. Justine Prince.
• Best Animated Short Film: Into The Betaverse, dirs. Varun Raman and Tom Hancock (United Kingdom). Honourable Mention: Terminal, dir. Alexandre Siqueira (Portugal, Spain, France).

FIPRESCI Prize

The International Critics’ Prize goes to a debut feature having its World Premiere in the Discovery programme. This year’s jury: Pragya Mishra, Cătălin Olaru, Savina Petkova, Enoe Lopes Pontes and Victor Stiff.

Winner: Ancestors, dir. David Turpin (Ireland, United Kingdom). The jury praised its command in translating the dreamy landscape of memory into compassionate cinematic language.

NETPAC Award

Presented by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Pacific Cinema, the NETPAC Award goes to the best Asian film by a first- or second-time feature director. The jury was led by Mara Matta, alongside Richard Fung and Panagiotis Kotzathanasis.

Winner: Thirteen in Gaza, dir. Hosam Abu Dan (Palestine). The jury called it a brave, intimate film that turns suffering into riveting images of life in all its complexity, and announced a major new voice in cinema.

See You at TIFF 2027

The 52nd Toronto International Film Festival takes place September 9–19, 2027. Full award descriptions and eligibility details are at tiff.net/awards.