By Matt Neglia
After nine days of screenings, both in-person and through their digital platform, the Toronto International Film Festival has announced that the winner of the People’s Choice Award for the 2021 film festival is Kenneth Branagh’s black-and-white semi-autobiographical film “Belfast.” The first runner-up was Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson’s “Scarborough” and the second runner-up was Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog.”
Here are the previous award winners over the last 30 years…
1991: The Fisher King (dir. Terry Gilliam)
1992: Strictly Ballroom (dir. Baz Luhrmann)
1993: The Snapper (dir Stephen Frears)
1994: Priest (dir. Antonia Bird)
1995: Antonia (dir. Marleen Gorris) Best Foreign Language Film winner
1996: Shine (dir. Scott Hicks) Best Picture nominee
1997: The Hanging Garden(dir. Thom Fitzgerald) Best Picture nominee
1998: Life Is Beautiful (dir. Roberto Benigni) Best Picture nominee & Best Foreign Language Film winner
1999: American Beauty (dir. Sam Mendes) Best Picture winner
2000: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (dir. Ang Lee) Best Picture nominee & Best Foreign Language Film winner
1st Runner-up: The Dish (dir. Rob Sitch)
2nd Runner-up: Innocence (dir. Paul Cox)
3rd Runner-up: Billy Elliot (dir. Stephen Daldry)
2001: Amélie (dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet) Best Foreign Language Film nominee
1st Runner-up: Maya (dir. Digvijay Singh)
2nd Runner-up: Monsoon Wedding (dir. Mira Nair)
2002: Whale Rider (dir. Niki Caro)
1st Runner-up: Bowling for Columbine (dir. Michael Moore) Best Documentary Feature winner
2nd Runner-up: Bend It Like Beckham (dir. Gurinder Chadha)
2003: Zatōichi (dir. Takeshi Kitano)
1st Runner-up: Go Further (dir. Ron Mann)
2nd Runner-up: The Corporation (dirs. Mark Achbar & Jennifer Abbott) Best Documentary winner
2004: Hotel Rwanda (dir. Terry George)
2005: Tsotsi (dir. Gavin Hood) Best Foreign Language Film winner
1st Runner-up: Live and Become (dir. Radu Mihaileanu)
2nd Runner-up: Dreamer (dir. John Gatins)
3rd Runner-up: Brokeback Mountain (dir. Ang Lee) Best Picture nominee
4th Runner-up: Mother of Mine (dir. Klaus Härö)
2006: Bella (dir. Alejandro Gómez Monteverde)
1st Runner-up: My Best Friend (dir. Patrice Leconte)
2nd Runner-up: Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (dirs. Barbara Kopple & Cecilia Peck)
2007: Eastern Promises (dir. David Cronenberg)
1st Runner-up: Juno (dir. Jason Reitman) Best Picture nominee
2nd Runner-up: Body of War (dirs. Ellen Spiro & Phil Donahue)
2008: Slumdog Millionaire (dir. Danny Boyle) Best Picture winner
1st Runner-up: More Than a Game (dir. Kristopher Belman)
2nd Runner-up: The Stoning of Soraya M (dir. Cyrus Nowrasteh)
2009: Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (dir. Lee Daniels) Best Picture nominee
1st Runner-up: Mao’s Last Dancer (dir. Bruce Beresford)
2nd Runner-up: Micmacs (dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
2010: The King’s Speech (dir. Tom Hooper) Best Picture winner
Runner-up: The First Grader (dir. Justin Chadwick)
2011: Where Do We Go Now? (dir. Nadine Labaki)
1st Runner-up: Starbuck (dir. Ken Scott)
2nd Runner-up: A Separation (dir. Asghar Farhadi) Best Foreign Language Film winner
2012: Silver Linings Playbook (dir. David O. Russell) Best Picture nominee
1st Runner-up: Argo (dir. Ben Affleck) Best Picture winner
2nd Runner-up: Zaytoun (dir. Eran Riklis)
2013: 12 Years a Slave (dir. Steve McQueen) Best Picture winner
1st Runner-up: Philomena (dir. Stephen Frears) Best Picture nominee
2nd Runner-up: Prisoners (dir. Denis Villeneuve)
2014: The Imitation Game (dir. Morten Tyldum) Best Picture nominee
1st Runner-up: Learning to Drive (dir. Isabel Coixet)
2nd Runner-up: St. Vincent (dir. Theodore Melfi)
2015: Room (dir. Lenny Abrahamson) Best Picture nominee
1st Runner-up: Angry Indian Goddesses (dir. Pan Nalin)
2nd Runner-up: Spotlight (dir. Tom McCarthy) Best Picture winner
2016: La La Land (dir. Damien Chazelle) Best Picture nominee
1st Runner-up: Lion (dir. Garth Davis) Best Picture nominee
2nd Runner-up: Queen of Katwe (dir. Mira Nair)
2017: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (dir. Martin McDonagh) Best Picture nominee
1st Runner-up: I, Tonya (dir. Craig Gillespie)
2nd Runner-up: Call Me by Your Name (dir. Luca Guadagnino) Best Picture nominee
2018: Green Book (dir. Peter Farrelly) Best Picture winner
1st Runner-up: If Beale Street Could Talk (dir. Barry Jenkins)
2nd Runner-up: Roma (dir. Alfonso Cuarón) Best Picture nominee & Best Foreign Language Film winner
2019: Jojo Rabbit (dir. Taika Waititi) Best Picture nominee
1st Runner-up: Marriage Story (dir. Noah Baumbach) Best Picture nominee
2nd Runner-up: Parasite (dir. Bong Joon-ho) Best Picture winner & Best International Feature Film winner
2020: Nomadland (dir. Chloé Zhao) Best Picture winner
1st Runner-up: One Night in Miami… (dir. Regina King)
2nd Runner-up: Beans (dir. Tracey Deer)
2021: Belfast (dir. Kenneth Branagh)
1st Runner-up: Scarborough (dirs. Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson)
2nd Runner-up: The Power of the Dog (dir. Jane Campion)
So as you can see, the Best Picture winner has been included in the list nine times out of the last thirty years. If we double that to eighteen, that’s how many times a Best Picture nominee has appeared. Foreign Language winners have appeared six times while a nominee has only shown up once, so if a Foreign Language film ever places in the top three, it stands a great chance to be the next Best International Feature Oscar winner. Documentaries rarely ever show up, only twice in the last thirty years, but both of those times, they also went on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. So, while no Foreign or Documentary films placed in the top three this year, we shouldn’t rule any out in the future. For now, though, “Belfast” and “The Power of the Dog” are looking like strong contenders for Best Picture nominations and even more for a win with “Belfast.”
The TIFF 2021 People’s Choice Documentary Award winner was “The Rescue” directed by the Oscar-winning “Free Solo” directors E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. The first runner-up was “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over.” The second runner-up was Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Sundance hit film “Flee.”
The TIFF 2021 People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award winner went to Julia Ducournau’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Titane.” The first runner-up was “You Are Not My Mother,” the feature directorial debut from Kate Dolan. And the second runner-up was “DASHCAM,” directed by Rob Savage. A full list of winners including tributes can be found here.
What do you think of the winners? Do you think either of these will factor into this year’s awards conversation? Do you feel something else should’ve won? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our Twitter account.
You can follow Matt and hear more of his thoughts on the Oscars and Film on Twitter at @NextBestPicture
