In news you probably heard already unless you’re one of those types that doesn’t read the web on Sundays, Lee Daniels’ urban drama, “Precious,” won the People’s Choice audience award at the 2009 Toronto Intl. Film Festival.
It’s notable for three reasons. 1) Since there are not many awards given out during TIFF and most films are not judged by a jury award the Audience Award is generally viewed as the festival’s biggest prize. 2) “Precious,” which already won awards at Sundance keeps taking up awards and seems poised to land in the Oscar 10. 3) Despite generally going for feel-good populist fare – TIFF audiences adored things like “Whip It,” “Up In The Air” “Micmacs” and “Soul Kitchen” and usually covet saccharine fare – they awarded “Precious” which by all accounts is an emotionally brutal and harrowing film.
At least all that over-applause, exaggerated laughter at hokey jokes and premature standing ovations actually meant something in the end. TIFF audiences are weird, a mix of genuine and dedicated cinephiles that are more cine-literate than your average film festival and then a gaggle of bonafide starfuckers who seemingly attend movies once a year (TIFF).
Oprah Winfrey, one of the executive producers of “Precious” is making much ado about the fact that Daniels’ film won the audience award, while not-so-subtly reminding her viewers that 2008 Oscar Best Picture winner, “Slumdog Millionaire” also won the TIFF award. And O has a bit of a point. Past TIFF winners that went on to score some Oscar gold (though not necessarily Best Picture) include “Roger & Me,” “Amélie,” “Hotel Rwanda,” “Tstotsi,” “Eastern Promises” and “Shine.”
But in the 31 year history of the TIFF People’s Choice award’s existence, Oscar gold only lined-up three times — “Chariots of Fire,” “American Beauty,” and last year’s “Slumdog Millionaire.”
How TIFF Effects Oscar
Then again, the Oscar 10 does make it a strange year and things that might not normally have a shot- “Inglourious Basterds,” “Up”- might be able to sneak into the top 10 noms somewhere. The sure-fire noms this year, at least from a studio perspective, are getting thinner and thinner. Paramount has all but said, “we don’t have much faith in Peter Jackson’s ‘The Lovely Bones,’ ” which has been dumped into a late December qualifying release and wide release in January 2010, and there’s still some minor doubt whether The Weinstein Company’s “Nine” will be released this year now that “A Single Man” seems to be the TWC frontrunner (and “The Road” has been bumped to Nov 25, the same day “Nine” was scheduled so the musical almost certainly has to move somewhere). Not that “Youth In Revolt” had any Oscar hopes, but you could smell that 2010 bump a mile away. Another TWC film rumored for a 2009 release, “All The Good Things,” will surely get moved to 2010 as well. At this point the long-delayed picture is probably looking at straight to DVD if it isn’t released in Q1 or Q2. It doesn’t look like it has any bigger prospects.
Here’s what we now wanna know: Now that “Precious” is likely a Oscar Best Picture 10 nominee (and frankly it probably was even before TIFF), where do things stand with the Weinstein Company lawsuit and Lionsgate? Back at Sundance, Harvey Weinstein believed he had a handshake agreement to release the film and the filmmakers turned around and went with Lionsgate, or so he alleges anyhow. None of us have heard much about that lawsuit, but could you imagine if TWC had control of “Precious” too? Man, if they did hold onto “Nine” for this year (which frankly feels slightly doubtful, despite their insistence), they would have a pretty unstoppable three-pronged attack on Oscar.
Other TIFF awards included Ruba Nadda, who won the Best Canadian Feature award for her film, “Cairo Time” film and French director Bruno Dumont’s “Hadewijch,” nabbed the FIPRESCI Special Presentations Prize.