As the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival came to a wrap on Sunday, festival organizers, filmmakers, and members of the press gathered to have brunch and hand out a handful of awards, including the People’s Choice Award, which went to David O. Russell’s comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook, starring Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, and Jennifer Lawrence. Ben Affleck’s Argo and Eran Riklis’ Zaytoun were also audience favourites, coming in second and third, respectively.
Other awards voted on by the public were the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award, which went to Martin McDonagh’s hilarious Seven Psychopaths, starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, and Woody Harrelson, and the People’s Choice Documentary Award, which went to Artifact, a look at the battle between Jared Leto’s band 30 Seconds to Mars and their record label, EMI.
Best Canadian Short (which carries a cash prize of $10,000) went to Deco Dawson’s Keep a Modest Head, while Best Canadian Feature (which carries a cash prize of $30,000) went to Xavier Dolan’s heart-wrenching love story, Laurence Anyways. Best Canadian First Feature was divided between Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral and Jason Buxton’s Blackbird. Instead of splitting the $15,000 cash prize, TIFF matched it so both filmmakers got the full amount.
The Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Special Presentations went to Francois Ozon’s Dans la maison (In the House) while the FIPRESCI Discovery prize went to Mikael Marcimain’s jarring political thriller Call Girl.
New awards added to the fest this year include the NETPAC Award for the Best First or Second Feature World or International Asian Film Premiere, which went to Sion Sono’s The Land of Hope, and the Grolsch Film Works Discovery Award, which went to Rola Nashef’s Detroit Unleaded and carries a cash prize of $10,000.
For all of our TIFF 2012 coverage, visit criticizethis.ca/tiff.
Top image: A scene from Silver Linings Playbook. Courtesy Alliance Films.
