LA BOLA NEGRA WINS TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD

The Spanish film La Bola Negra has won the people's choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival, voted for directly by festivalgoers. The queer drama follows the intertwined lives of three gay men across timelines spanning 1932, 1937 and 2017. It is directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, working together as Los Javis. The film previously premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where it shared the best director award with Paweł Pawlikowski's Fatherland. Netflix acquired the film after a bidding war following its Cannes premiere and has given it its longest theatrical run to date for the streaming service, with cinema release set for 16 October ahead of streaming from 2 December. "This is a deeply personal film but it also carries a message of the importance and necessity of expressing who you are," Los Javis said in a statement.

The Toronto people's choice award is regarded as a strong indicator of Oscar success, with past winners including Green Book, 12 Years a Slave, Nomadland, Slumdog Millionaire and The King's Speech going on to take best picture. Last year's winner, Hamnet, received eight Oscar nominations and won best actress for Jessie Buckley. According to one report, every winner since 2012 bar one has gone on to secure a best picture nomination, with Mike Flanagan's The Life of Chuck the exception in 2024. Peter Farrelly's I Play Rocky was named first runner-up, with Siân Heder's Being Heumann taking second place.

In the festival's international people's choice award, Elsinore, starring Andrew Scott as actor Ian Charleson, was named the winner. Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love and Hur Jin-ho's The Assassin(s) were named runners-up in that category. The documentary award went to Darlene Love: I Know Where I've Been, a portrait of the vocalist. The Toronto awards follow May el-Toukhy's Woman Unknown winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and Cristian Mungiu's Fjord taking the Palme d'Or at Cannes.