A scene from 'The Social Network'. Courtesy Sony Pictures.
It wasn’t Black Swan, Rabbit Hole, Toy Story 3, Buried, or Blue Valentine (the five films I nominated) that took home the prize for Best Picture of the year from the Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA). No, the consensus among the 43-member group was that The Social Network, the film about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, is the best film of the year.
“The Facebook Movie”, as it’s commonly referred to, also earned director David Fincher title of Best Director. Writer Aaron Sorkin took away the Best Screenplay award for his script based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires, and stars Jesse Eisenberg and Armie Hammer won Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively.
Categories not dominated by The Social Network included Best Actress, which went to Jennifer Lawrence for her role in Winter’s Bone, and Best Supporting Actress, which went to young star Hailee Steinfeld for part in the Coen Bros.’ remake of the 1969 film True Grit.
Exit Through the Gift Shop picked up the Allan King Documentary Award, and its director, famed street artist Banksy, got Best First Feature accolades. How to Train Your Dragon won for Best Animated film of the year, and Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives was honoured with Best Foreign-Language Film of the year.
The awards were decided by members of the TFCA at a live vote that took place at the TIFF Bell Lightbox this past weekend. They will be handed out to winners at a gala dinner in Toronto on January 12, 2011 along with a special citation award to Toronto-based filmmaker Bruce McDonald.
For more information on the TFCA, visit torontofilmcritics.com.
Full list of winners and runner-ups below.
Winner:
The Social Network
Runners-up:
Black Swan
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
BEST ACTOR
Winner:
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Runners-up:
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
BEST ACTRESS
Winner:
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Runners-up:
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner:
Armie Hammer, The Social Network
Runners-up:
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner:
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Runners-up:
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
BEST DIRECTOR
Winner:
David Fincher, The Social Network
Runners-up:
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Christopher Nolan, Inception
BEST SCREENPLAY
Winner:
The Social Network, written by Aaron Sorkin based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich
Runners-up:
The King’s Speech, written by David Seidler
True Grit, written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen based on the novel by Charles Portis
BEST FIRST FEATURE
Winner:
Exit Through the Gift Shop, directed by Banksy
Runners-up:
Get Low, directed by Aaron Schneider
Monsters, directed by Gareth Edwards
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Winner:
How to Train Your Dragon
Runners-up:
Despicable Me
Toy Story 3
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Winner:
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Runners-up:
Mother
Of Gods and Men
ALLAN KING DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Winner:
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Runners-up:
Inside Job
Marwencol
JAY SCOTT PRIZE for emerging talent
Daniel Cockburn, You Are Here
ROGERS CANADIAN FILM AWARD NOMINEES
Incendies, directed by Denis Villeneuve
Splice, directed by Vincenzo Natali
Trigger, directed by Bruce McDonald
