A Brief History of Toronto’s People’s Choice Award and the Oscars
Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” has just won the Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award, which you probably could have seen coming a mile away. The uplifting musical is exactly the kind of film that appeals across the board en route to claiming an audience prize like this, and it’s guaranteed to be a strong presence in the Oscar season this year.
With Emma Stone’s best actress win for the film in Venice last weekend, this launches the film into the season where it is sure to be a dominant title. And should “La La Land” pick up a best picture nomination in a few months, it will join 14 of 38 People’s Choice winners to do so, including the last four in a row. Five of them went on to win the big prize.
Here’s a quick rundown of those 14 titles, and the other nominations they reaped. “The King’s Speech” holds the record among them with 12. How close to that mark will Chazelle’s latest come? There are certainly that many in play.
(Other Oscar-nominated films that have won the prize (but not translated it to a best picture nomination) include “Eastern Promises,” “Hotel Rwanda,” “Whale Rider,” “Amelie,” “The Fisher King,” “Cyrano de Bergerac” and “The Princess Bride.”)
* denotes winner.
“Chariots of Fire” (1981)
Best Picture*; Best Director (Hugh Hudson); Best Supporting Actor (Ian Holm); Best Original Screenplay*; Best Costume Design*; Best Film Editing; Best Original Score*
“The Big Chill” (1983)
Best Picture; Best Supporting Actress (Glenn Close); Best Original Screenplay
“Places in the Heart” (1984)
Best Picture; Best Director (Robert Benton); Best Actress (Sally Field)*; Best Supporting Actor (John Malkovich); Best Original Screenplay*; Best Costume Design
“Shine” (1996)
Best Picture; Best Director (Scott Hicks); Best Actor (Geoffrey Rush)*; Best Supporting Actor (Armin Mueller-Stahl); Best Original Screenplay; Best Film Editing; Best Original Score
“Life is Beautiful” (1998)
Best Picture; Best Director (Roberto Benigni); Best Actor (Roberto Benigni)*; Best Original Screenplay; Best Film Editing; Best Original Score*; Best Foreign Language Film*
“American Beauty” (1999)
Best Picture*; Best Director (Sam Mendes)*; Best Actor (Kevin Spacey)*; Best Actress (Annette Bening); Best Original Screenplay; Best Cinematography*; Best Original Score
“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000)
Best Picture; Best Director (Ang Lee); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration*; Best Cinematography*; Best Costume Design; Best Film Editing; Best Original Score*; Best Original Song; Best Foreign Language Film*
“Slumdog Millionaire” (2008)
Best Picture*; Best Director (Danny Boyle)*; Best Adapted Screenplay*; Best Cinematography*
Best Film Editing*; Best Original Score*; Best Original Song*; Best Original Song; Best Sound Editing; Best Sound Mixing*
“Precious” (2009)
Best Picture; Best Director (Lee Daniels); Best Actress (Gabourey Sidibe); Best Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique); Best Adapted Screenplay*; Best Film Editing
“The King’s Speech” (2010)
Best Picture*; Best Director (Tom Hooper)*; Best Actor (Colin Firth)*; Best Supporting Actor (Geoffrey Rush); Best Supporting Actress (Helena Bonham Carter); Best Original Screenplay*; Best Art Direction; Best Cinematography; Best Costume Design; Best Film Editing; Best Original Score; Best Sound Mixing
“Silver Linings Playbook” (2012)
Best Picture; Best Director (David O. Russell); Best Actor (Bradley Cooper); Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence)*; Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro); Best Supporting Actress (Jacki Weaver); Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Film Editing
“12 Years a Slave” (2013)
Best Picture*; Best Director (Steve McQueen); Best Actor (Chiwetel Ejiofor); Best Supporting Actor (Michael Fassbender); Best Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong’o)*; Best Adapted Screenplay*; Best Costume Design; Best Film Editing; Best Production Design
“The Imitation Game” (2014)
Best Picture; Best Director (Morten Tyldum); Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch); Best Supporting Actress (Keira Knightley); Best Adapted Screenplay*; Best Film Editing; Best Original Score; Best Production Design
“Room” (2015)
Best Picture; Best Director (Lenny Abrahamson); Best Actress (Brie Larson)*; Best Adapted Screenplay
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