TORONTO -- “La Bola Negra,” an epic film about the interconnected lives of three gay men in Spain, took home the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday. Its directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known collectively as “Los Javis,” 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. “So knowing that audiences have connected with it and made it their own is the greatest gift we could receive,” they said in the note, read by Cameron Bailey, CEO of the festival. Bailey said the directors were in Spain to promote the film. 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 Paweł Pawlikowski for “Fatherland”. The People’s 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. Bailey said he considers TIFF’s 51st edition a resounding success. “I think the main takeaway for me is that the TIFF audience is as strong as ever, if not stronger,” he said on the red carpet after the announcement. “They came out in great numbers.” Other big winners Sunday included “Angh,” which nabbed the Platform Award, a jury prize that comes with a $20,000 purse. The film from director Theja Rio is about the last surviving chief of a Nagaland village on the Indo-Burma border. “First and foremost I wanted to make a film about where I come from,” Rio said on the red carpet after the ceremony. “I 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’s just a dream come true.” For the first time this year, the Platform Award offers a direct route to the Academy Awards. 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. 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. Because “Angh” is mostly in Konyak, it qualifies for best international feature contention. Rio said he’s excited about the prospect, but that his producers have reminded him the Oscars are still a long way away. Best Canadian Discovery for a first- or second-time director went to Cody Lightning for his sophomore feature, “Smudge the Blades,” about a rag-tag Indigenous hockey team in northern Alberta. “I come to you today with a heavy heart and beer on my breath,” Lightning said as he accepted the award, saying his mother Georgina Lightning -- also a filmmaker -- died unexpectedly several weeks ago. “I get my humour from my dad, I get my storytelling from my mom,” he said through tears. “This one’s for my mom. This one’s for my mom. This one’s for my mom.” On the red carpet, Lightning said his mother was on the set a lot while they were filming. “I know she’s very, very proud of this work that we did,” he said. Best Canadian feature went to “Sunburn” by Serville Poblete, a coming-of-age film about a group of kids from Toronto’s Bleecker Street neighbourhood. Rounding out the People’s Choice winners are “Elsinore” by Simon Stone for International People’s Choice Award; “Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney” for Midnight Madness; and Barry Avrich’s “Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been” for documentary. This is the second-straight year Avrich has won that prize. Last year he was the surprise winner for “The Road Between Us,” a documentary about a retired Israeli general’s rescue mission on Oct. 7, 2023. The FIPRESCI Prize, which goes to a first-time international filmmaker, was awarded to “Ancestors” by Irish writer-director David Turpin, about an Irishman in London in the 1980s, when homosexuality was still illegal in Ireland. The NETPAC Award, which recognizes movies from Asia and the Pacific, went to the Palestinian film “Thirteen in Gaza” by Hosam Abu Dan, about a 13-year-old girl living in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The Short Cuts Awards for short films went to “Into the Betaverse” for animated; “Mammalia” for international and “Fight Kid” for Canadian. Director Michael Del Monte said watching his film with an audience was gratifying. “You don’t what they’re going to feel when you’re making it,” he said. “You just hope that your idea translates to them. And I think it did.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2026. By Nicole Thompson
