Green Book wins People’s Choice Award at TIFF
TORONTO — The Toronto International Film Festival wrapped with some surprise award wins Sunday, including Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” taking the People’s Choice prize over some big titles that went into the 11-day movie marathon with major hype.
The comedy-drama, which stars Mahershala Ali as a classical pianist and Viggo Mortensen as his concert-tour chauffeur across the American South in the 1960s, beat out first runner-up “If Beale Street Could Talk” by Barry Jenkins, and second runnerup “Roma” by Alfonso Cuaron.
“Roma,” as well as the Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga musical romance “A Star Is Born” and the Neil Armstrong biopic “First Man” starring Ryan Gosling, arrived at TIFF with deafening buzz after stellar debuts at the Venice Film Festival.
“Green Book,” by contrast, made its world premiere at TIFF and gained momentum as critical raves and word of mouth spread from screenings that had audiences applauding multiple times throughout the film.
“‘Green Book’ just surprised everybody and came out of the woodwork,” said festival director and CEO Piers Handling.
“I think it was smart because they came in and it wasn’t overhyped, it just snuck in under the radar.”
The $15,000 People’s Choice prize is sponsored by Grolsch. The honour is often a predictor of Academy Award success.
Several previous People’s Choice winners have gone on to win the best-picture Oscar, including “12 Years a Slave,” “The King’s Speech” and “Slumdog Millionaire.”
Last year’s People’s Choice winner was “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”
Handling said he thinks “Green Book” struck a chord because of its “smart” blend of top-notch acting and compelling story that speaks to contemporary issues.
“I think the film was just so well-told, it’s witty, it’s funny, but it’s also about what’s going on right now in our society,” Handling said.
This year, votes for the audience prize were cast online, instead of through physical tickets in a ballot box. Participants didn’t enter a ticket number.