With the scorpion tail of Hurricane Ike poised to sting Toronto -- and drench the free, open-air, wrap-up party at Yonge-Dundas Square last night -- the 33rd edition of the Toronto International Film Festival ended with a sigh, not a shout-out.
But yesterday's awards, announced at an afternoon reception before the rains were expected to arrive, reminded fest fans that intelligent content, and not just sexy celebrity power, is the true heart of the filmfest.
British filmmaker Danny Boyle, of Trainspotting fame, won the Cadillac People's Choice Award for Slumdog Millionaire as the most popular film in the 2008 festival. From its first fest screening, it generated what new fest co-director Cameron Bailey called "a rapturous response" and it emerged as one of the true discoveries of the festival. It is the story of a slum child who tries to become a millionaire by competing on a television gameshow.
Boyle, like many of the award winners, was not in Toronto to receive the prize in person. Instead, sparkling Indian actress Feida Pinto, who has family in Mississauga and remained in the GTA to visit after the hoopla of the filmfest, was on hand to take the prize and bubble with enthusiasm at the honour. She is one of the co-stars of Boyle's popular film.
"Wow!" she said. "I'm loving the city of Toronto and I'm loving the country of Canada. Slumdog Millionaire is a film about an underdog who believes in something and goes for it, and won't stop at anything, and it literally affirms, I think, everyone's faith in destiny. I got my visa (to visit Canada for the festival) literally four hours before the flight, so I definitely believe in destiny now."
Pinto called the film "a real tribute to Bombay" because it conveys "the sights, the sounds and the sensations of this ever-buzzing city -- and there is a universal theme at the end of it, which is why I think everyone can believe in it."
Slumdog Millionaire earned a $15,000 cash prize for the award. The first runner-up was American filmmaker Kristopher Belman's More Than a Game, a basketball documentary featuring LeBron James. One of the highlights of the new, free Yonge-Dundas Square events hosted by the festival was a personal appearance by James in conjunction with the debut of More Than a Game.
In other awards:
- New Brunswick francophone filmmaker Rodrique Jean won the City of Toronto-Citytv Award for best Canadian feature film for his naturalistic human drama, Lost Songs, which deals with a young couple in the throes of postpartum depression. The jury, which included Sarah Polley, called Lost Song "constantly surprising" as well as "profound, masterful and devastatingly sad." This award comes with a $30,000 cash prize. Atom Egoyan's Adoration earned a special citation.
- Quebec filmmaker Marie-Helene Cousineau and her Inuit co-director Madeline Piujuq Ivalu shared the City of Toronto-Citytv Award for best Canadian first feature film for their haunting drama about traditional Inuit life, Before Tomorrow. The jury praised the film for "its arresting beauty, its humanist, innovative storytelling and its artistic integrity." This award comes with a $15,000 cash prize. Lyne Charlebois' Borderline earned a special citation.
- Chris Chong Chan Fui's Block B won the award for best Canadian short film. It tells the story of Indian expatriates living in Malaysia. The short film jury, headed by filmmaker Louise Archambault, cited Fui for his elegant approach: "Simple, graphic, hypnotic: This is an achievement of bringing cinema to its bare essentials." This award comes with a $10,000 cash prize from the National Film Board of Canada. Denis Villeneuve's Next Floor, a dazzling, surreal satire about gluttony, earned a special citation.
- British filmaker Steve McQueen won the Diesel Discover Award for his harrowing drama Hunger, which dramatizes the story of IRA activists Bobby Sands and other inmates of Maze Prison when they staged a protest hunger strike in 1981. The award comes with a $10,000 cash prize.
- American filmmaker Derick Martini won the Discovery prize from FIPRESCI (the international film critics association) for his film Lymelife, starring Alec Baldwin and Rory Culkin.
- Australian director Steve Jacobs won the Special Presentations prize from FIPRESCI for his film Disgrace, starring John Malkovich and Jessica Haines.
