 |
| La Bola Negra took the People's Choice Award in Toronto Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival |
It premiered in Cannes in May and was picked up by Netflix for distribution later this year. It is the first non-English language film to win Toronto's prize, which is often seen as a weather vane for the Oscars, since Nadine Labaki's Lebanese drama Where Do We Go Now? in 2011.
The directors described the award as "the greatest gift we could receive". Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky, a biographical drama about the making of Sylvester Stallone's hit film, was first runner up, with Siân Heder’s drama Being Heuman, about disability rights activist Judy Heumann, was the second runner up.
The documentary award went to Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been, directed by Barry Avrich, which charts the remarkable life of the often uncredited backing singer, who performed on a string of Sixties hits while under contract to Phil Spector.
There was UK success in the International category as Simon Stone's Elsinore, about Scottish actor Ian Charleson and starring Andrew Scott, took the top prize, edging out Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love and Hur Jin-ho “The Assassin(s), who placed second and third respectively. Elsinore will next open London Film Festival on October 7.
Rounding out the awards was Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney, directed by Matthew Rankin, which took the top prize in the Midnight Madness strand, with Paolo Strippoli’s The Spiral and Sabu’s Arrested Memory in second and third.
La Bola Negra is continuing to make a strong international showing after winning the Best Director award in Cannes. It is also currently on top in the Audience Vote in the Pearls section in San Sebastian, although it's early days as many films have yet to screen.
