\u2018La Bola Negra\u2019 took home the People\u2019s Choice Award. CTV News Toronto\u2019s Andria Case reports. <\/p>\n
TORONTO — \u201cLa Bola Negra,\u201d an epic film about the interconnected lives of three gay men in Spain, took home the People\u2019s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Its directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known collectively as \u201cLos Javis,\u201d were not on hand to accept the prize on the final day of TIFF, but said in a note that the film is about how important it is to express who you are.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo knowing that audiences have connected with it and made it their own is the greatest gift we could receive,\u201d they said in the note, read by Cameron Bailey, CEO of the festival.<\/p>\n
Bailey said the directors were in Spain to promote the film.<\/p>\n
The film, which stars Penelope Cruz, Glenn Close and Miguel Bernardeau, had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the spring, where it won the best director prize, tied with Pawe\u0142 Pawlikowski for \u201cFatherland\u201d.<\/p>\n
The People\u2019s Choice Award, which has long been a bellwether for Oscars buzz, was one of a dozen prizes handed out Sunday, capping off the 11-day festival where 294 films screened.<\/p>\n
Bailey said he considers TIFF\u2019s 51st edition a resounding success.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the main takeaway for me is that the TIFF audience is as strong as ever, if not stronger,\u201d he said on the red carpet after the announcement. \u201cThey came out in great numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other big winners Sunday included \u201cAngh,\u201d which nabbed the Platform Award, a jury prize that comes with a $20,000 purse.<\/p>\n
The film from director Theja Rio is about the last surviving chief of a Nagaland village on the Indo-Burma border.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst and foremost I wanted to make a film about where I come from,\u201d Rio said on the red carpet after the ceremony. \u201cI wanted to tell a story, I wanted to have our voices heard and that remains my No. 1 priority. But to be here, to come here at TIFF and then to be awarded with this, it\u2019s just a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ER4YZT4XEZNR5JDSTXDT6VNERE.jpg\")
Director Javier Ambrossi, left, and Javier Calvo Director Javier Ambrossi, left, and Javier Calvo attend the premiere of “La Bola Negra” at the Princess of Wales Theatre during the Toronto International Film Festival on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Toronto. (Photo by Joel C Ryan\/Invision\/AP) <\/p>\n
For the first time this year, the Platform Award offers a direct route to the Academy Awards.<\/p>\n
The Academy previously only accepted one submission from each country for best international feature, but this year it expanded its criteria to consider winners of qualifying awards at international film festivals.<\/p>\n
The Platform Award is one of six such prizes, but other eligibility criteria still apply, including that at least half of the film must be in a language other than English.<\/p>\n
Because \u201cAngh\u201d is mostly in Konyak, it qualifies for best international feature contention.<\/p>\n
Rio said he\u2019s excited about the prospect, but that his producers have reminded him the Oscars are still a long way away.<\/p>\n
Best Canadian Discovery for a first- or second-time director went to Cody Lightning for his sophomore feature, \u201cSmudge the Blades,\u201d about a rag-tag Indigenous hockey team in northern Alberta.<\/p>\n
\u201cI come to you today with a heavy heart and beer on my breath,\u201d Lightning said as he accepted the award, saying his mother Georgina Lightning — also a filmmaker — died unexpectedly several weeks ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get my humour from my dad, I get my storytelling from my mom,\u201d he said through tears. \u201cThis one\u2019s for my mom. This one\u2019s for my mom. This one\u2019s for my mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the red carpet, Lightning said his mother was on the set a lot while they were filming.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know she\u2019s very, very proud of this work that we did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/46OEZ5CGHRFZLIWTPQXVHWWTNY.png\")
Sunburn film (Courtesy of TIFF) <\/p>\n
Best Canadian feature went to \u201cSunburn\u201d by Serville Poblete, a coming-of-age film about a group of kids from Toronto\u2019s Bleecker Street neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
Rounding out the People\u2019s Choice winners are \u201cElsinore\u201d by Simon Stone for International People\u2019s Choice Award; \u201cLadies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney\u201d for Midnight Madness; and Barry Avrich\u2019s \u201cDarlene Love: I Know Where I\u2019ve Been\u201d for documentary.<\/p>\n
This is the second-straight year Avrich has won that prize. Last year he was the surprise winner for \u201cThe Road Between Us,\u201d a documentary about a retired Israeli general\u2019s rescue mission on Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n
The FIPRESCI Prize, which goes to a first-time international filmmaker, was awarded to \u201cAncestors\u201d by Irish writer-director David Turpin, about an Irishman in London in the 1980s, when homosexuality was still illegal in Ireland.<\/p>\n
The NETPAC Award, which recognizes movies from Asia and the Pacific, went to the Palestinian film \u201cThirteen in Gaza\u201d by Hosam Abu Dan, about a 13-year-old girl living in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n
The Short Cuts Awards for short films went to \u201cInto the Betaverse\u201d for animated; \u201cMammalia\u201d for international and \u201cFight Kid\u201d for Canadian.<\/p>\n
Director Michael Del Monte said watching his film with an audience was gratifying.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t what they\u2019re going to feel when you\u2019re making it,\u201d he said. \u201cYou just hope that your idea translates to them. And I think it did.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
By Nicole Thompson<\/p>\n
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