Toronto International Film Festival 2013 - 12 Years a Slave is the one to watch

Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave has won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, concluding the 11-day event and securing its place as an early top Oscars contender.

The Festival is unlike its film festival rivals in that it hands out only a small set of awards voted for by the public, rather than elected juries.

The BlackBerry People's Choice Award is presented to the most popular film, as voted for by audiences throughout the Festival, and has a strong track record for indicating potential Oscar winners. 12 Years a Slave follows in the footsteps of last year's winner, Silver Linings Playbook, which went on to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, with previous years' victors including Best Picture winners Slumdog Millionaire and The King's Speech.

12 Years a Slave is an adaptation faithful to the memoir of Solomon Northup, a free man living with his family in relative affluence near New York, who in 1841 was duped, drugged, abducted and sold into slavery under the name ‘Platt’. The film accounts Northup’s passage through the hands of several owners, including two portrayed by a ruthless Michael Fassbender and Benedict Cumberbatch, and his desperate struggle to return home to his family.

The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival last month and received a standing ovation during its Toronto debut. Although some members of the audience found certain scenes of brutality too distressing, McQueen’s unflinchingly candid portrayal of Northup’s story was widely praised.

"It was just one of those stories that I felt needed to be told," Shame director McQueen explained. “The reason I got into the idea of the free man is that you could identify with him. ... When he is captured and put into slavery, you go on this journey with him."

Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen at TIFF 2013

12 Years a Slave has the potential to see McQueen become the first black director to win the directing Oscar and pick up the award for Best Picture. Fellow British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor’s portrayal of Northup has also been tipped for Oscar success after receiving outstanding reviews from film critics. Fassbander’s depiction of a sadistic plantation owner has also generated additional awards buzz around the actor, who is already an awards favourite due to his role in Oscar contender The Counselor. The film could also see wins for cinematographer Sean Bobbit and scriptwriter John Ridley.

The runners up in the category were Philomena, directed by Stephen Frears, and Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners. Winners and runners up for the remaining categories follow below.

12 Years a Slave is due for UK cinema release 24 January 2014.

Contact your DCM representative now if you are interested in Awards Season films.

Blackberry People's Choice Award: Winner: Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" First runner-up: Stephen Frears' "Philomena" Second runner-up: Denis Villeneuve's "Prisoners"

Blackberry People’s Choice Documentary Award: Winner: Jehane Noujaim's "The Square" First runner-up: Alanis Obomsawin's "Hi-Ho Mistahey!" Second runner-up: Leanne Pooley's "Beyond the Edge"

Blackberry People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award: Winner: Sion Sono's "Why Don't You Play in Hell?" First runner-up: Mike Flanagan's "Oculus" Second runner-up: Alex de la Iglesia's "Witching & Bitching"

The Prize of the International Critics (Fipresci Prize): Pawel Pawlikowski's "Ida" in the Special Presentations category Claudia Sainte-Luce's "The Amazing Catfish" in the Discovery Program, which spotlights feature films by new and emerging directors

The City of Toronto and Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film: Alan Zweig's "When Jews were Funny"

Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film: Shayne Ehman and Seth Scriver's "Asphalt Watches"

YouTube Award for Best Canadian Short Film: Walter Woodman and Patrick Cederberg's "Noah"

NetPac Award for World or International Asian Film: Anup Singh's "Qissa"