“American Fiction” Wins The 2023 TIFF People’s Choice Award

After ten days of movie watching in the heart of Toronto, it was announced earlier today that Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction” won the 2023 TIFF People’s Choice Award. Voted on by the general public after each film screens, the award has become a strong indicator of what film would do well with awards voters within the Academy due to this being a sign of broad appeal amongst a diverse group of people.

Past winners from the last decade include:

2022: 1. The Fabelmans 2. Women Talking 3. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
2021: 1. Belfast 2. Scarborough 3. The Power Of The Dog
2020: 1. Nomadland 2. One Night In Miami… 3. Beans
2019: 1. Jojo Rabbit 2. Marriage Story 3. Parasite
2018: 1. Green Book 2. If Beale Street Could Talk 3. Roma
2017: 1. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 2. I, Tonya 3. Call Me By Your Name
2016: 1. La La Land 2. Lion 3. Queen Of Katwe
2015: 1. Room 2. Angry Indian Goddesses 3. Spotlight
2014: 1. The Imitation Game 2. Learning To Drive 3. St. Vincent
2013: 1. 12 Years A Slave 2. Philomena 3. Prisoners

As you can see, whether it’s the winner or the runners-up, at least one of the three placed films has managed to score a Best Picture nomination within the last decade. There’s good reason to suggest the same will happen this year. Sometimes, there have been two nominees, and in 2019, all three managed to score Best Picture nominations. The Best Picture winner has placed within the top 3 five times in the last ten years. The runners up for this year’s prize were Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” and Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy And The Heron.” Will one of these be nominated for Best Picture?

Here are the other winners from the year’s Toronto International Film Festival:

Documentary Award: MR. DRESSUP: THE MAGIC OF MAKE-BELIEVE (dir. Robert McCallum)
Midnight Madness Award: DICKS: THE MUSICAL (dir. Larry Charles)
Platform Award: DEAR JASSI (dir. Tarsem Singh Dhandwar)
Best Canadian Feature Film Award: SOLO (dir. Sophie Dupuis)
Changemaker Award: WE GROWN NOW (dir. Minhal Baig)
Amplify Voices Award for Best BIPOC Canadian Feature: KANAVAL (dir. Henri Pardo)
FIPRESCI Prize: SEAGRASS (dir. Meredith Hama-Brown)
NETPAC Award: A MATCH (dir. Jayant Digambar Somalkar)
Short Cuts #ShareHerJourney Award: SHÉ (SNAKE) (dir. Renee Zhan)
Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Film: ELECTRA (dir. Daria Kascheeva)
Short Cuts Award for Best Film: ELECTRA (dir. Daria Kascheeva)

Will “American Fiction” receive a Best Picture nomination? What does the TIFF People’s Choice Award do for its awards prospects? Please let us know in the comments section below or on Next Best Picture’s Twitter account and check out our latest Oscar predictions here.