Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
British star Kenneth Branagh's "deeply personal" directorial effort, "Belfast," has picked up awards season momentum after winning the People's Choice prize at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The family drama inspired by his own childhood in Belfast, Ireland won the honour during Saturday's TIFF Tribute Awards broadcast on CTV, which ended 10 days of pandemic-tailored in-person screenings and digital at-home viewing.
Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan and Judi Dench star in the black-and-white coming-of-age tale, set amid the tumult of late-1960s Northern Ireland.
Branagh, who's also an esteemed actor with an Oscar-nominated turn in "Henry V," said he was "deeply grateful" for the prize chosen through online votes.
"Our first showing of Belfast at TIFF was one of the most memorable experiences of my entire career," the writer-director said in a pre-recorded video in the show, which also had a live element with masked attendees at a soiree with TIFF co-heads Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey.
"That so many film lovers connected with 'Belfast' so profoundly was absolutely overwhelming to myself and Jamie Dornan, and we talked about it long into a memorable night of laughter and tears in your great city."
The People's Choice prize has been seen as a predictor of Academy Award success.
Last year's winner, the road drama "Nomadland," won the best-picture Oscar.
Other previous People's Choice winners that have nabbed best picture include "Green Book," "12 Years a Slave," "The King's Speech" and "Slumdog Millionaire."
This year's People's Choice race had a caveat, though: films that didn't screen on the festival's digital site were not eligible for the prize, including buzzy titles "Spencer" and "Dune."
Organizers said votes for People's Choice were tallied Saturday morning.
The first runner-up was Canadian drama "Scarborough," directed by Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson and based on Toronto author Catherine Hernandez's award-winning 2017 novel about the city's eastern suburb. The film also took the Shawn Mendes Foundation's Changemaker Award, which comes with a $10,000 cash prize.
The second runner-up for People's Choice was Jane Campion's wild west drama "The Power of the Dog," starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a Montana ranch owner.
Cumberbatch was among the honourees at the Tribute Awards, which also announced "Yuni" by Indonesian filmmaker Kamila Andini as the winner of the Platform award, chosen by an international jury headed by acclaimed Riz Ahmed.
Other winners announced by TIFF after Saturday's broadcast included "Ste. Anne," the debut feature by Manitoba's Rhayne Vermette, described as an "examination of home by way of places and people." It took the $10,000 Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Feature Film.
"The Rescue" by E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, about a Thai soccer team trapped in a cave in summer 2018, won the People's Choice Documentary Award.
Launched in 2019, the Tribute Awards honour film industry talent and raise funds for TIFF's year-round programs.
This year's show also honoured actor Jessica Chastain, singer Dionne Warwick, filmmakers Denis Villeneuve, Alanis Obomsawin and Danis Goulet, and cinematographer Ari Wegner.
All of the honourees had projects at TIFF and attended in person, except for Wegner.
Stars who presented in the broadcast included Sigourney Weaver, Shamier Anderson, Kirsten Dunst, Rebecca Ferguson, Gladys Knight, Eva Longoria, David Oyelowo and Kiefer Sutherland.
This year's festival marked a return to red carpets with stars, more indoor venues and a larger offering of films than last year's largely digital event.
It still wasn't a typical TIFF, though, with theatres operating at 50 per cent capacity and COVID-19 protocols including mask-wearing and proof of either full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.
Predicting which film might win People's Choice was trickier without the usual audience chit-chat and lounging at venues, but strong responses on social media and in theatres helped, said Bailey.
"There was that amplified reaction because people were just so glad to be in a movie theatre again," he said in an interview. "But sometimes something just goes up that extra level, and there have been a few films this year where it felt like people were just rhapsodic in their reaction and were feeling something together."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2021.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.