{"id":8082542,"date":"2026-09-20T09:03:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T16:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/?p=8082542"},"modified":"2026-09-20T14:27:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T21:27:24","slug":"la-bola-negra-wins-tiff-peoples-choice-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/industry-news\/awards\/la-bola-negra-wins-tiff-peoples-choice-award\/","title":{"rendered":"‘La Bola Negra’ Wins People’s Choice Award at Toronto International Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

“La Bola Negra,” Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s decades-spanning Spanish war drama, has won the people\u2019s choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced at an awards ceremony Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky” was the runner-up, followed by Sian Heder’s “Being Heumann.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“La Bola Negra,” inspired by an unfinished Federico Garcia Lorca play, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, with Calvo and Ambrossi winning the best director award. It was picked up by Netflix, which has planned a major theatrical release and awards campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“La Bola Negra” is the first non-English-language film to win the People’s Choice Award since “Where Do We Go Now?” in 2011. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most major film festivals convene juries to hand out their top awards, Toronto puts its signature prize in the hands of the public. Viewers at the festival\u2019s public screenings are invited to vote for their favorite films on the TIFF website, with the film getting the highest percentage of votes from its viewers winning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British drama “Elsinore,” which stars Andrew Scott as the late Scottish actor Ian Charleson, won the people’s choice for international films in a rare win for an English-language film in that category. “Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been” won for documentaries and “Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney” won for the festival’s Midnight Madness section.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Theja Rio’s “Angh,” a film set in Nagaland region in the northeast of India, won the jury prize in the festival’s Platform section, which consisted of 12 films from around the world. For the first time, the winner of that prize joins winners from the Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Busan festivals and automatically qualifies in the Oscars’ international feature film category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serville Poblete’s “Sunburn” won the award as the festival’s best Canadian film, while Cody Lightning’s “Smudge the Blades” won the Best Canadian Discovery prize as the best first or second film by a Canadian director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FIPRESCI Award for the best first film went to David Turpin’s “Ancestors,” while the NETPAC Award went to Hosam Abu Dan’s Palestinian film “Thirteen in Gaza.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Short Cuts program of short films, awards and $10,000 prizes went to the animated short “Into the Betaverse,” the Canadian film “Fight Kid” and the international film “Mammalia.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the first 30 years of the festival found only occasional agreement between the People\u2019s Choice and Academy Awards voters, the TIFF award has become a fairly reliable Oscar predictor over the last two decades.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ever since \u201cSlumdog Millionaire\u201d won the award in 2008, 16 of the 18 People\u2019s Choice winners have gone on to be nominated for the Oscar for best picture, and five of them \u2013 \u201cSlumdog,\u201d \u201cThe King\u2019s Speech,\u201d \u201c12 Years a Slave,\u201d \u201cGreen Book\u201d and \u201cNomadland\u201d \u2013 have won the top Oscar. In that time, eight of TIFF\u2019s second-place finishers have become best-pic nominees and so have six of the third-place finishers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last decade, the only People\u2019s Choice winner not to be nominated for best picture was Mike Flanagan\u2019s \u201cThe Life of Chuck.\u201d The film won at TIFF in 2024 but was not released until the following year and not given a significant Oscar campaign by Neon, which also had 2024\u2019s Best Picture winner (and third-place People\u2019s Choice finisher), \u201cAnora.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going into Sunday\u2019s ceremony, the likeliest winners seemed to be \u201cI Play Rocky,\u201d \u201cBeing Heumann\u201d and \u201cThe Debut.\u201d \u201cOnwards and Sideways,\u201d \u201cMisty Green\u201d \u201cClub Kid\u201d \u201cElsinore\u201d \u201cWild Horse Nine\u201d \u201cTender Loving Care\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the complete list of TIFF winners:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People\u2019s Choice Award<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Winner<\/strong>: “La Bola Negra,” Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi
First runner up<\/strong>: “I Play Rocky,” Peter Farrelly
Second runner up<\/strong>: “Being Heumann,” Sian Heder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International People\u2019s Choice Award<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Winner<\/strong>: “Elsinore,” Simon Stone
First runner up<\/strong>: “Possible Love,” Lee Chang-dong
Second runner up<\/strong>: “The Assassin(s),” Hur Jin-ho<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People\u2019s Choice Award, Documentaries<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Winner<\/strong>: “Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been,” Barry Avrich
First runner up<\/strong>: “Black Sunflowers,” James Marcus Haney
Second runner up<\/strong>: “The Ultra Runner,”Mila Aung-Thwin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People\u2019s Choice Award, Midnight Madness<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Winner<\/strong>: “Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney,” Matthew Rankin
First runner up<\/strong>: “The Spiral,” Paolo Strippoli
Second runner up<\/strong>: “Arrested Memory,” Sabu<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Platform Prize<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Winner<\/strong>: “Angh,” Theja Rio
Honorable Mention<\/strong>: “Brace Your Heart,” Amanda Kernell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best Canadian Feature Film<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Winner<\/strong>: “Sunburn,” Serville Poblete
Honorable Mention<\/strong>: “Man in Motion: The Rick Hansen Story,” Adrian Buitenhuis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best Canadian Discovery<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Winner<\/strong>: “Smudge the Blades,” Cody Lightning
Honorable Mention<\/strong>: “The Black Box Is Orange,” Yuula Benivolski<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short Film Awards<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Best Animated Short Film<\/strong>: “Into the Betaverse,” Varun Raman and Tom Hancock
Best Animated Short Film, Honorable Mention<\/strong>: “Terminal,” Alexandre Siqueira
Best Canadian Short Film<\/strong>: “Fight Kid,” Michael Del Monte
Best Canadian Short Film, Honorable Mention<\/strong>: “Almost Pink,” Justine Prince
Best International Short Film<\/strong>: <\/strong>“Mammalia,” Elia Kalogianni
Best International Short Film, Honorable Mention<\/strong>: “The Spectacular Death of Prisca,” Kaelo Iyizoba<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Awards<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

FIPRESCI Award<\/strong>: “Ancestors,” David Turpin
NETPAC Award<\/strong>:”Thirteen in Gaza,” Hosam Abu Dan<\/p>\n\n\n

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Since 2008, 16 of the 18 People’s Choice winners have gone on to receive Academy Award nods for best picture, and five have won the top Oscar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1482,"featured_media":8071906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":504357,"post_id":7302600}}]},"_links_to":"","_links_to_type":0,"nb_breaking_email_type":"748ab317-e4f3-4ae0-9786-7a9d01f09fd9","nb_breaking_template":"single-story.html","nb_breaking_from_name":"TheWrap Awards","nb_breaking_subject":"","nb_breaking_preview":"","nb_breaking_list":[],"nb_breaking_header_img":7555415,"nb_breaking_should_send":false,"nb_breaking_content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Discover why entertainment executives and professionals rely on the WrapPRO platform daily for exclusive coverage, analysis, deeper reporting, and access to VIP events & screenings throughout the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n","nb_newsletter_sent_breaking_post_id":[8082614],"apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-09-20T16:03:22Z","apple_news_api_id":"fdd8b986-d3de-437d-99f4-d026f1e1744d","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-09-20T21:27:22Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAw==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A_di5htPeQ32Z9NAm8eF0TQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"hide_featured_image":false,"the_wrap_post_enable_full_width_featured_image":false,"the_wrap_post_enable_featured_video":false,"the_wrap_post_featured_video":"","the_wrap_post_disable_read_more":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,12],"tags":[516083,464,3977,2652],"tw_data_partners":[],"columns":[],"byline":[504357],"class_list":["post-8082542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards","category-movies","tag-la-bola-negra","tag-oscars","tag-tiff","tag-toronto_film_festival"],"newsletter_builder_byline":"Steve Pond","is_pro_article":false,"apple_news_notices":[],"eyebrow":{"link":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/industry-news\/awards\/","text":"Awards"},"tw_schema_org_review":{"name":"","type":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8082542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1482"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8082542"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8082542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8082703,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8082542\/revisions\/8082703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8071906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8082542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8082542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8082542"},{"taxonomy":"tw_data_partners","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tw_data_partners?post=8082542"},{"taxonomy":"tw_column","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/columns?post=8082542"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=8082542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}