Defeating Ben Affleck's 'Argo', the Jennifer Lawrence-starring dramedy wins the coveted BlackBerry People's Choice Award at the 37th edition of TIFF.
- Sep 17, 2012
AceShowbiz - David O. Russell's dramedy "Silver Linings Playbook" successfully took home the top prize at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. Announced Sunday, September 16, the Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper-starring film won the coveted BlackBerry People's Choice Award.
Hailed as the runner-up for the People's Choice prize was Ben Affleck's latest directorial work "Argo", which was praised for bringing a sense of humor despite the political genre of the film. The second runner-up was Eran Riklis' Israel vs. Lebanon war movie "Zaytoun".
Previous winners of TIFF's People's Choice Awards, which were chosen by the festival's audience, included 2010's "The King's Speech" and 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire". Both movies won the Best Picture prize at Academy Awards.
Other winners at the 37th edition of TIFF included "Seven Psychopaths" (People's Choice Midnight Madness Award) and "Artifact" (People's Choice Documentary Award). The latter film was a documentary about Jared Leto and his band 30 Seconds to Mars as they had a legal battle with their label while recording their album "This Is War".
"This film is so personal and has been such a labor of love," said Leto after winning the prestigious award. "Thank you so much to every single person who voted."
TIFF 2012 was held from September 6 to 16 with "Looper" serving as the opener. There were 17 galas, 38 world premieres and 45 special presentations being held throughout the prestigious film festival.
The Winners of 2012 Toronto International Film Festival:
- BlackBerry People's Choice Award: "Silver Linings Playbook" by David O. Russell
- First Runner-Up: "Argo" by Ben Affleck
- Second Runner-Up: "Zaytoun" by Eran Riklis
- BlackBerry People's Choice Midnight Madness Award: "Seven Psychopaths" by Martin McDonagh
- First Runner-Up: "The Bay" by Barry Levinson
- Second Runner-Up: "John Dies at the End" by Don Coscarelli
- BlackBerry People's Choice Documentary Award: "Artifact" by Bartholomew Cubbins
- First Runner-Up: "Storm Surfers 3D" by Christopher Nelius and Justin McMillan
- Second Runner-Up: "Revolution" by Rob Stewart
- Best Canadian Short Film: "Keep a Modest Head" by Deco Dawson
- Best Canadian Feature Film: "Laurence Anyways" by Xavier Dolan
- Best Canadian First Feature Film (Tie): "Antiviral" by Brandon Cronenberg"; and "Blackbird" by Jason Buxton
- International Critics (Fipresci) Prize for Special Presentations: "Dans La Maison" (In the House) by Francois Ozon
- International Critics (Fipresci) Prize for the Discovery Program: "Call Girl" by Mikael Marcimain
- Netpac Award for the Best World or International Asian Feature Film Premiere: "The Land of Hope" by Sion Sono
- Grolsch Film Works Discovery Award: "Detroit Unleaded" by Rola Nashef
