Stills from Chloé Zhao’s ‘Hamnet’ and Park Chan-wook’s ‘No Other Choice’
| Photo Credit: Focus Features, Neon
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) closed its 2025 edition with the announcement of its audience-voted awards, led by Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, which earned the prestigious People’s Choice Award. The win makes Zhao the first filmmaker to claim the honor twice, following her 2020 victory for Nomadland, which went on to secure the Academy Award for Best Picture.
TIFF’s People’s Choice Award is considered one of the most significant precursors to the Oscars. Over the past 15 years, 12 winners of the prize have gone on to receive Best Picture nominations, with four — including 12 Years a Slave, Green Book, and Zhao’s own Nomadland — ultimately claiming the top Oscar. This year, Zhao’s Shakespeare-inspired drama prevailed over Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, which placed as first and second runners-up.
A new addition to TIFF’s lineup of audience awards also made headlines. The inaugural International People’s Choice Award went to Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, a satirical black comedy thriller from the seasoned South Korean auteur. Based on Donald Westlake’s novel The Ax, the film stars Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, and Park Hee-soon. Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value and Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound placed as first and second runners-up.
Other major awards included Barry Avrich’s The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, which earned the People’s Choice Documentary Award, and Matt Johnson’s Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, which topped the Midnight Madness category. Canadian Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk won the Best Canadian Feature Film prize for Wrong Husband, with Min Sook Lee’s There Are No Words receiving an honorable mention.
The Platform Prize went to Valentyn Vasyanovych’s To the Victory!, while Lucía Aleñar Iglesias’ Forastera won the International Critics’ FIPRESCI Prize dedicated to emerging filmmakers. In short film categories, Talk Me by Joecar Hanna was named Best International Short, and The Girl Who Cried Pearls by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski was recognized as Best Canadian Short. Agnès Patron’s To the Woods earned the newly introduced Short Cuts Award for Best Animated Film.
Now in its 48th year, TIFF remains a critical launchpad for awards season, with Zhao and Park’s wins immediately positioning their films as global contenders heading into the months ahead.
Published – September 15, 2025 09:53 am IST