'The Imitation Game' Wins Toronto Film Festival People's Choice Award
The top TIFF prize — and Oscar bellwether — goes to the Benedict Cumberbatch-starring biopic of Alan Turning.
.Great news for Cumberbitches near and far: the Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game — starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing — has just won the People's Choice Award at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.
Your Grolsch People's Choice Award for 2014 goes to THE IMITATION GAME #TIFF14
— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) September 14, 2014The People's Choice Award, voted by festival audiences, is the highest honor available at the largely non-competitive TIFF. The award is good news for the awards prospects of the film, given the recent track record of TIFF's People's Choice. Last year's winner was 12 Years a Slave, en route to its Best Picture Oscar triumph, and five of the past six winners have gone on to Best Picture nominations.
Even better news for Cumberbatch, those films have produced seven Best Actor nominees and three winners.
| Year | People's Choice Winner | Oscar Nominations |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Shine | 7 (won Best Actor) |
| 1997 | The Hanging Garden | 0 |
| 1998 | Life Is Beautiful | 7 (won Best Actor) |
| 1999 | American Beauty | 8 (won Best Actor) |
| 2000 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | 10 |
| 2001 | Amelie | 5 |
| 2002 | Whale Rider | 1 |
| 2003 | Zatoichi | 0 |
| 2004 | Hotel Rwanda | 3 (Best Actor nom) |
| 2005 | Tsotsi | 1 |
| 2006 | Bella | 0 |
| 2007 | Eastern Promises | 1 (Best Actor nom) |
| 2008 | Slumdog Millionaire | 10 |
| 2009 | Precious | 6 |
| 2010 | Inglourious Basterds | 8 |
| 2011 | Where Do We Go Now? | 0 |
| 2012 | Silver Linings Playbook | 8 (Best Actor nom) |
| 2013 | 12 Years a Slave | 9 (Best Actor nom) |
Runners-up for People's Choice were Isabel Coixet's Learning to Drive and Theodore Melfi's St. Vincent.