After an incredible stretch of buzzy screenings, exclusive sneak peeks, and star-studded celebrity sightings, this year’s Toronto International Film Festival has officially drawn to a close. Over the past 11 days, TIFF proved once again why it remains one of the world’s premier cinematic events, presenting a massive lineup of 294 films from 72 countries, welcoming over 800 talents across 98 red carpets, and hosting 279 directors from every corner of the globe.
Today, festival officials revealed this year’s full slate of award winners during a live press conference at the TIFF Lightbox, capped off by the announcement of the prestigious People’s Choice Award.
After all the ballots were tallied, this year’s People’s Choice Award went to La Bola Negra, a striking Spanish-language historical drama directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. The powerful ensemble film—starring Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close, and Miguel Bernardeau—explores what it means to live openly and authentically across different eras. Centered on “three existences” bound together by universal themes of sexuality, desire, pain, and inheritance, the picture clearly resonated deeply with festival crowds.
In addition to the top winner, TIFF selects two runners-up for the flagship category. Taking the first runner-up spot was Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky, featuring Anthony Ippolito as a young Sylvester Stallone fighting to get his iconic screenplay made. Coming in as the second runner-up was Siân Heder’s Being Heumann.
Launched in 1978, the TIFF People’s Choice Award, presented by Rogers, celebrates the festival’s top title as voted on by Toronto’s famously passionate, movie-loving public. The honor now spans four distinct categories: overall, International, Documentary, and Midnight Madness.
Historically, TIFF’s People’s Choice Award has served as an exceptional bellwether for the upcoming Oscar race, even if it occasionally diverges. Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck took home the top prize in 2024, though the Best Picture Oscar ultimately went to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
According to our editor-in-chief, Chris Bumbray, who covers TIFF on the ground every year, La Bola Negra feels like an absolute shoo-in for the Academy’s Best International Feature category and could easily crash the Best Picture lineup. In his review, Chris praised the film as “big, muscular filmmaking on a grand scale, and a film everyone reading this will likely hear a ton about as the year goes on.” Read our full review here.