15/09/2025 - Valentyn Vasyanovych’s near-future look at Ukraine has won the festival’s primary competitive section, with Chloé Zhao’s Shakespearean tragedy gaining the most awards momentum

The 50th Toronto International Film Festival wrapped yesterday, closing a busy fortnight for the international film industry. The Canadian event is a more audience-focused event compared to Venice and Telluride, but its prizewinners are still closely taken note of in industry quarters, whether for awards-season prognostications or the wider marketplace.

The Platform Award went to a well-established name this time around, with Ukrainian filmmaker Valentyn Vasyanovych winning for his innovative self-portrait To the Victory! [+see also:
film review
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film profile], a hypothetical consideration of his country and its industry after the war. The jury comprising last year’s victor Carlos Marqués-Marcet, actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste and director Chloé Robichaud made the following statement: “Director Valentyn Vasyanovych has choreographed a mise-en-scène rendered with masterful precision, arriving at the kind of refined simplicity that can only be achieved with artistic maturity and bold vision. He has deftly used comedy to address a very complicated and complex situation in a work that is both audacious and profoundly beautiful. Ultimately, the film returns us to the very essence of cinema.”

From this edition onwards, the People’s Choice Award has been split into international categories, but most eyes will be on the “main” strand, where Chloé Zhao won her second of these to date with Hamnet [+see also:
trailer
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With the social media “stans” out in force after he was snubbed for prizes on the Lido, Park Chan-wook’s International People’s Choice Award for No Other Choice [+see also:
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The full list of award winners announced on Sunday is below:

Platform Award
To the Victory! [+see also:
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Honourable Mention
Hen [+see also:
film review
film profile] - György Pálfi (Germany/Greece/Hungary)

Best Canadian Feature Film Award
Wrong Husband - Zacharias Kunuk (Canada)
Honourable Mention
There Are No Words - Min Sook Lee (Canada)

Best Canadian Discovery Award
Blue Heron [+see also:
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film profile] - Sophy Romvari (Canada/Hungary)
Honourable Mention
100 Sunset - Kunsang Kyirong (Canada)

People’s Choice Award
Hamnet [+see also:
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First Runner-up
Frankenstein - Guillermo del Toro (USA)

Second Runner-up
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery - Rian Johnson (USA)

International People’s Choice Award
No Other Choice [+see also:
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First Runner-up
Sentimental Value [+see also:
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interview: Joachim Trier
film profile] - Joachim Trier (Norway/France/Denmark/Germany)

Second Runner-up
Homebound - Neeraj Ghaywan (India/USA)

People’s Choice Documentary Award
The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue - Barry Avrich (Canada)

First Runner-up
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert - Baz Luhrmann (Australia/USA)

Second Runner-up
You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution… - Nick Davis (USA)

People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie - Matt Johnson (Canada)

First Runner-up
Obsession - Curry Barker (USA)

Second Runner-up
The Furious - Kenji Tanigaki (Hong Kong/China)

Short Cuts Award for Best International Short Film
Talk Me - Joecar Hanna (Spain/USA)
Honourable Mention
Agapito - Arvin Belarmino/Kyla Danelle Romero (Philippines)

Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film
The Girl Who Cried Pearls - Chris Lavis/Maciek Szczerbowski (Canada)
Honourable Mention
A Soft Touch - Heather Young (Canada)

Short Cuts Award for Best Animated Short Film
To the Woods - Agnès Patron (France)

NETPAC Award
In Search of the Sky - Jitank Singh Gurjar (India)

FIPRESCI Prize
Forastera [+see also:
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