The Toronto International Film Festival has officially crowned its 2026 winners, closing out 11 days of premieres, red carpets, discoveries, and global storytelling.
TIFF announced 12 awards during a live press conference at TIFF Lightbox, with honors spanning the audience-voted People’s Choice Awards, the juried Platform competition, Canadian features, international and Canadian short films, animation, and prizes presented by FIPRESCI and the Network for the Promotion of Asian Pacific Cinema.
Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s La Bola Negra claimed the festival’s top audience honor, the People’s Choice Award presented by Rogers. Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky was named first runner-up, while Siân Heder’s Being Heumann finished as second runner-up.
The People’s Choice Award has long been one of TIFF’s most closely watched honors. Since its launch in 1978, the prize has become an important measure of which films connect most strongly with festivalgoers and could continue building momentum beyond Toronto.
This year’s festival was enormous in scale. TIFF presented 294 films representing 72 countries, welcomed more than 800 members of the film community across 98 red carpets, and hosted 279 directors from around the world. Nearly 7,000 delegates participated in TIFF: The Market, while 2,000 accredited members of the media covered the festival.
Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been Wins Documentary Audience Award
Barry Avrich’s Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been won the People’s Choice Documentary Award, adding another high-profile honor to a festival selection centered on one of music’s most extraordinary voices.
Love’s career spans decades, but her influence and artistry were not always matched by the recognition or control she deserved. The documentary’s audience win signals just how powerfully her story resonated with TIFF viewers. James Marcus Haney’s Black Sunflowers earned first runner-up, followed by Mila Aung-Thwin’s The Ultra Runner.
In the festival’s other audience-voted categories, Simon Stone’s Elsinore received the International People’s Choice Award. Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love and Hur Jin-ho’s The Assassin(s) were named first and second runners-up, respectively.
Matthew Rankin’s Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney won the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award. Paolo Strippoli’s The Spiral took first runner-up, and SABU’s Arrested Memory was the second runner-up.
The winning People’s Choice films will receive free public screenings at TIFF Lightbox beginning at noon on the festival’s closing day.
Angh Makes History With Platform Prize
Theja Rio’s Indian film Angh won the $20,000 CAD Platform Prize, which recognizes filmmakers with a bold directorial perspective and a distinctive command of cinematic storytelling. The international jury praised the film for its refreshing perspective, assured filmmaking, and resonant portrayal of its world.
The award carries new significance in 2026. For the first time, a non-English-language winner of TIFF’s Platform Prize receives direct eligibility for consideration in the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category. TIFF is now one of only six international festivals whose qualifying award provides that pathway.
Amanda Kernell’s Brace Your Heart (Garrat Du Váimmu) received the Platform jury’s Special Jury Award, earning recognition for its emotional complexity, central performance, and striking visual journey.
Nigerian Filmmaker Kaelo Iyizoba Earns Short Film Honor
Greek filmmaker Elia Kalogianni’s MAMMALIA won the Short Cuts Award for Best International Short Film. The jury celebrated its willingness to confront social contradictions and uncomfortable double standards through daring, visceral filmmaking.
Nigerian director Kaelo Iyizoba’s The Spectacular Death of Prisca received an honorable mention. Blending melodrama, action, and comedy, the film was recognized for transforming family dynamics into a heightened and wildly original cinematic experience. The jury also praised the precision of its filmmaking and performances, as well as its confident, unpretentious tone.
Michael Del Monte’s Fight Kid won Best Canadian Short Film for its intense examination of inherited masculinity and ambition. Justine Prince’s Almost Pink, which confronts the sexual exploitation of teenagers and the social and economic conditions that enable it, received an honorable mention.
The award for Best Animated Short Film went to Varun Raman and Tom Hancock’s Into the Betaverse. The hybrid of live action and animation was celebrated as an unexpectedly emotional comedy about friendship, love, and human connection. Alexandre Siqueira’s Terminal received an honorable mention for its poetic and surreal exploration of death and loss.
Each Short Cuts winner receives a $10,000 CAD bursary.
Palestinian, Indigenous, and Emerging Voices Recognized
Hosam Abu Dan’s Thirteen in Gaza received the NETPAC Award, which recognizes outstanding work from Asia and the Pacific by a first- or second-time feature filmmaker. The jury praised the Palestinian film for portraying life in Gaza with intimacy and complexity while refusing to reduce its subjects to either spectacle or victimhood.
The FIPRESCI Prize went to Irish filmmaker David Turpin’s debut feature Ancestors. Awarded by an international jury of film critics, the prize honors a first feature making its world premiere in TIFF’s Discovery program. The jury highlighted the film’s compassionate translation of memory, longing, love, and turmoil into cinematic language.
Cody Lightning’s Smudge the Blades won the Best Canadian Discovery Award and its $10,000 CAD prize. The jury described the film as electric, heartfelt, funny, and unafraid to address the lasting effects of colonization on Indigenous communities. Rooted in joy, resilience, family, and community, the film places Indigenous voices at the center while challenging familiar genre conventions.
Yuula Benivolski’s The Black Box is Orange received an honorable mention in the category. Through personal memories and archival imagery, the film examines the systemic erasure of Palestinian histories and the ways settler ideology can shape a childhood.
Serville Poblete’s Sunburn won the Best Canadian Feature Film Award, along with a $10,000 CAD prize. The jury celebrated the film’s vibrant portrait of Toronto, innovative filmmaking, strong ensemble, and deeply human sense of humor. Adrian Buitenhuis’ Man in Motion: The Rick Hansen Story received an honorable mention for offering a moving new perspective on Hansen’s journey while drawing attention to people too often left behind.
Complete List of TIFF 2026 Award Winners
- People’s Choice Award: La Bola Negra, directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi
- International People’s Choice Award: Elsinore, directed by Simon Stone
- People’s Choice Documentary Award: Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been, directed by Barry Avrich
- People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award: Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney, directed by Matthew Rankin
- Platform Prize: Angh, directed by Theja Rio
- Platform Special Jury Award: Brace Your Heart (Garrat Du Váimmu), directed by Amanda Kernell
- Best International Short Film: MAMMALIA, directed by Elia Kalogianni
- Best Canadian Short Film: Fight Kid, directed by Michael Del Monte
- Best Animated Short Film: Into the Betaverse, directed by Varun Raman and Tom Hancock
- FIPRESCI Prize: Ancestors, directed by David Turpin
- NETPAC Award: Thirteen in Gaza, directed by Hosam Abu Dan
- Best Canadian Discovery Award: Smudge the Blades, directed by Cody Lightning
- Best Canadian Feature Film Award: Sunburn, directed by Serville Poblete
The 51st Toronto International Film Festival concludes today. TIFF will return for its 52nd edition from September 9–19, 2027.
