"Nomadland" wins TIFF's People's Choice
Sunday, September 20, 2020 at 2:13PM by Nathaniel R
This year's TIFF has wrapped. Normally we cover it extensively, as you know, but they cut out a big swath of press this year including us... *cries*. Hopefully we'll return next year and if not we'll have to find a new favourite festival to obsess over. Herewith the winners and some Oscar stats, and if we've already discussed the movies, there's a link...
AUDIENCE PRIZES
People's Choice: Nomadland dir. Chloé Zhao.
(First runner up: One Night in Miami... dir. Regina King; Second runner up: Beans dir. Tracey Deer.)
People's Choice, Documentary: Inconvenient Indian dir. Michelle Latimer.
People’s Choice, Midnight Madness: Shadow in the Cloud dir. Roseanne Liang.
That's right ALL of the audience prizes this year went to female filmmakers! Even the runners up were directed by women. The People's Choice Award is major bragging rights since it often signals kind Oscar fates down the road. Basically it would be a shock if Nomadland misses the Best Picture nomination at this point afterwinning TIFF and Venice though One Night in Miami has less convincing stats on its side. The stats go like so...
People's Choice History
In the entire 43 year history of this prize, stretching From Girlfriends (1978) through Nomadland (2020), 18 of the People's Choice winners went on to a Best Picture nominations at the Oscars (including JoJo Rabbit last season). The 43 winners also include 8 future Best Picture winners (including Green Book for 2018), 6 future Best Foreign Language Film winners, and 2 future Best Documentary Feature winners.
One Night in Miami
Past Ten Years Only Stats (2010-2019)
The past ten years especially have been Oscar-aligned. 90% of the People's Choice winners (like Nomadland) went on to Best Picture nominations with three of them winning (The King's Speech, 12 Years a Slave and Green Book). As for the first and second runners up (like Regina King's fictional ensemble drama about real life black icons One Night in Miami and the Canadian feature Bean which is a true story about a standoff between an indigenous community and the Canadian government in 1990), 40% of each of those almost-winners went on to a Best Picture nomination. Curiously the second runner up prize in the past ten years has produced more Best Picture winners (two: Parasite, Spotlight) than the first runner up prize has (one: Argo).
JURIED PRIZES
Kelly Fyffe-MarshallChangemaker Award presented by Shawn Mendes Foundation ($10,000 prize):
Black Bodies, a short film by Kelly Fyffe-Marshall.
Kelly Fyffe-Marshall is a social activist filmmaker who has directed a handful of shorts now. Her debut short, Haven (2018) premiered at SXSW. She's currently developing her first feature.
Amplify Voices Award presented by Canada Goose ($10,000 prize):
Inconvenient Indian, dir. Michelle Latimer
(Special Mention: Fauna, dir. Nicolás Pereda)
The Disciple, dir. Chaitanya Tamhane
Night of the Kings, dir. Phillipe Lacôte
(Special Mention: Downstream to Kinshasa, dir. Dieudo Hamadi)
Night of the Kings has already been Oscar submitted and we're beginning to wonder if The Disciple will be India's submission choice given its successful festival run thus far. The documentary Inconvenient Indian won two prizes at TIFF. If we get a chance to see it we'll discuss. Here's a clip...
IMDbPro SHORT CUTS AWARDS ($10,000 prize)
Dustin Muchuvitz stars in Dustin (2020)
Best Film: Dustin, dir. Naïla Guiguet
Canadian Film: Benjamin, Benny, Ben, dir. Paul Shkordoff
Share Her Journey Award (aka Female Filmmaker Award): Sing Me a Lullaby, dir. Tiffany Hsiung
(Honourable mention: O Black Hole!, dir. Renee Zhan)
Dustin, about a trans raver (played by Dustin Muchuvitz) and their friends in a warehouse, is Naïla Guiguet's directorial debut but she's written three other short films in France. The brilliant out French actor Felix Maritaud (Sauvage/Wild) also appears in this short.
Reader Comments (10)
It'd be nice to see two female Director nominees in the same year, and Regina King would be the first woman of color to make it in. I do wonder if the Directors branch would resist an actor though, like they did with Ben Affleck.
I did not know Regina King was also a director. So much talent!
Nathaniel, I’m so sad you couldn’t go to TIFF this year! I always enjoy your coverage.
I listened to the podcast of one of your former fellow podcasters, Katey Rich. It’s interesting how a not-in-person festival plays out. It seems that without the group excitement of fellow critics, critic’s responses are more muted (and maybe a little more personal and thoughtful).
The films that are just the standard thing again might not have that automatic mass acceptance.
I’m looking forward to seeing Nomadland and Beans.
Two other movies at TIFF that sounded like fun are I Care A Lot with Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Diane Wiest, in an apparently a very black comedy.
And Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period Of Time, which sounds like it has one of the best plots. Strange and twisty.
I hope that the New York Film Festival gives you better access, and look forward to your coverage of that.
I just hope Frances gives us something different to her usual ballsy roles.
Cash -- well it's her first feature as a director!
Bujold - thank you. There's not as many films at NYFF but I'm trying to fill in by calling pr people ;)
Eurocheese -- they're hard to predict with actors turned directors. I think one reason they might resist them is it seems like they win if they get nominated (due to the actor's branch)... I suspect that's also why Bradley Cooper was left out for A Star is Born (same reason as Affleck)
Please don't stop obsessing over TIFF! It's my favourite time of year in the city, and we love having you! I just hope next year sees a return to some sort of normalcy!
Bujold- I'd say the hardest part of the not-in-person experience is that because you're home, watching movies for the festival interacts with your day-to-day life (you still go to work, you're not blocking off a week to go to the festival). And yes, not watching the films with a crowd does take some perspective out of the experience of a movie's response, although in my case I have a WhatsApp group with other colleagues with whom I was constantly sharing reactions, so that helped.
One Night in Miami was my favorite film from TIFF, though I also loved Nomadland. I would also recommend Shiva Baby, New Order (if you have the stomach for it), Another Round, Wolfwalkers (from the director of The Secret of Kells), Holler and Never Gonna Snow Again.
Would Chloé Zhao also not be a woman of colour?
Nomadland is my MUST SEE this year.
Totally happy for Chloe Zhao's Nomadland. I am excited to see this. She and her films give me Kelly Reichardt and Eliza Hittman vibes who are perpetual perennials in my book.