Toronto Film Festival wrapped up for another year with its awards reception today.
Among the winners were Canada's own David Cronenberg, who picked up the Cadillac People's Choice award for his latest collaboration with actor Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises. Mortensen stars as a ruthless Russian gangster whose world is shaken when his path crosses that of Anna (Naomi Watts), an innocent midwife who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family.
Runners up were Canadian film-maker Jason Reitman for coming-of-age drama Juno and Ellen Spiro's documentary Body Of War.
The International Critics FIPRESCI prize - given to emerging film-makers - was awarded to Rodrigo Plá for La Zona. In a statement the festival organisers said: "La Zona makes a subtle use of cinematographic codes (thriller, anticipation) bringing to light a sadly realistic dichotomy: the gap in Mexican society and the frailty of human convictions. "
The Artistic Innovation Award went to Argentian film-maker Anahí Berneri's for Encarnacion, about an ageing B-movie actress who has to face her past when she returns to her home town.
The jury noted the film "stands out for its economy of vision. We attribute this to its superb direction and editing. We appreciate the director's ability to render the fetishized female body in a distilled and forceful examination of both the "movie star" and "movie industry" and their relationship to everyday life. "
Mexican film Cochochi, meanwhile, picked up the Discovery Award for filmmakers Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán about an adventure of discovery for two brothers after they become separated from one another while on an errand.
The Best Canadian First Feature Film award went to Stéphane Lafleur's Continental, Un Film Sans Fusil, which sees the disappearance of a man cause the lives of four people to interconnect. The Jury described it as "a film with singular vision, an economical and subtle beauty and a cinematic maturity that belies the director’s relative inexperience."
Best Canadian Feature went to Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg - a personal portrait of his hometown. The jury said: "In a year when many masters of Canadian cinema have made new and exciting movies, one film stands above as a work of remarkable ingenuity, originality and that, within its specific, personal vision finds a universal appeal."
Scooping the Award for Best Canadian Short Film was Chris Chong Chan Fui's Pool, which features a water reservoir as the title character. The Jury praised the director "for telling us this story with restraint, subtlety and compassion."
