La Bola Negra Wins Toronto Film Festival People's Choice
The Spanish film La Bola Negra has won the top audience prize at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, an award historically linked to Oscar
The 51st Toronto International Film Festival has named its People's Choice Award winner. The top audience prize went to the Spanish film La Bola Negra, directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. The first runner-up was I Play Rocky from director Peter Farrelly, and the second runner-up was Being Heumann from director Siân Heder.
The festival announced the full slate of winners on Sunday morning. The International People's Choice Award was given to Simon Stone's Elsinore. Barry Avrich's documentary Darlene Love: I Know Where I've Been won the Documentary People's Choice Award. The Midnight Madness People's Choice Award went to Ladies And Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney.
Award Winners List
Here is the complete list of winners for the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival's audience awards.
Oscar Implications and History
The People's Choice Award, voted on by festival audiences since 1978, is often seen as a predictor for the Academy Awards' Best Picture category. Past winners that went on to win the Oscar include Nomadland, Green Book, and 12 Years a Slave. Many other winners, like last year's Hamnet, have secured Best Picture nominations.
La Bola Negra is Spain's official entry for the International Feature Film Oscar. Netflix will release it in theaters on October 16. Interestingly, both runner-up films come from directors whose previous works won Best Picture: Farrelly's Green Book and Heder's Coda.
Platform and Short Film Awards
A significant rule change affects the festival's Platform Prize winner. For the first time, that winner is instantly eligible for the International Film Oscar without needing a submission from its home country. The 2026 Platform Prize, which includes a $20,000 CAD award, went to Angh from Indian filmmaker Theja Rio. A Special Jury Award was given to Brace Your Heart from director Amanda Kernell.
The festival also presented its Short Cuts Awards, each with a $10,000 CAD bursary. The jury awarded MAMMALIA (dir. Elia Kalogianni) for Best International Short Film, Fight Kid (dir. Michael Del Monte) for Best Canadian Short Film, and Into The Betaverse (dirs. Varun Raman, Tom Hancock) for Best Animated Short Film. Honourable mentions were given in each category.
The FIPRESCI Prize, awarded by an international critics' jury to an emerging filmmaker's debut feature, was also announced as part of the festival's awards ceremony.
