SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK Wins TIFF Audience Award

David O. Russell‘s Silver Linings Playbook got a boost in the Oscar race as was named the top audience prize winner in Toronto on Sunday. The idiosyncratic blend of comedy and drama went on to become a sleeper hit at TIFF which took everyone by surprise. A perfectly calibrated comedy which stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence has won the BlackBerry People’s Choice Award – contenders included Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, Ben Affleck’s Argo, the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer’s Cloud Atlas and Terrence Malick’s To the Wonder. The other big winner was the ultra-violent black comedy Seven Psychopaths – Martin McDonagh‘s latest film about dogknapping and screenwriting won the People’s Choice Midnight Madness award. Here’s the full list via TIFF.net: BlackBerry People’s Choice Award: Silver Linings Playbook directed by David O. Russell

Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Julia Stiles and Jennifer Lawrence star in this acerbic comedy-drama from David O. Russell (The Fighter), about a former high-school teacher who returns to his family home after eight months in a mental institution and begins to slowly rebuild his life.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj5_FhLaaQQ[/youtube] Runners Up: Ben Affleck’s Argo and Eran Riklis’ Zaytoun BlackBerry People’s Choice Documentary Award: Artifact directed by Bartholomew Cubbins

Telling harsh truths about the modern music business, Artifact gives intimate access to singer/actor Jared Leto and his band Thirty Seconds to Mars as they battle their label in a brutal lawsuit and record their album This Is War. The film is a true artifact of our times, as its subjects struggle with big questions over art, money and integrity.

Runners Up: Christopher Nelius & Justin McMillan’s Storm Surfers 3D and Rob Stewart’s Revolution BlackBerry People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award: Seven Psychopaths directed by Martin McDonagh

A screenwriter (Colin Farrell) struggling to write a serial-killer script gets more real-life inspiration than he can handle when a dognapping scheme gone awry brings a galaxy of crazies to his doorstep. A top-notch cult-movie cast — including Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Tom Waits, Harry Dean Stanton — anchors this wacky, blood-spattered commentary on the psycho-killer thriller from the writer-director of In Bruges.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DybuxVZriQs&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fresults%3Fsearch_query%3Dseven%2Bpsychopaths%2Bofficial%2Btrailer%26oq%3DSeven%2BPs%26gs_l%3Dyoutube-reduced.1.2.0l4.684553.686867.0.690601.8.8.0.0.0.0.132.725.7j1.8.0…0.0…1ac.1.dz4TI_owxtU[/youtube] Runners Up: Barry Levinson’s The Bay and Don Coscarelli’s John Dies at the End City of Toronto + Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature: Laurence Anyways directed by Xavier Dolan Skyy Vodka Award For Best Canadian First Feature Film: Antiviral directed by Brandon Cronenberg (tie) Blackbird directed by Jason Buxton FIPRESCI Prize For Special Presentations: In the House (Dans la maison) directed by Francois Ozon FIPRESCI Prize For Discovery Programme: Call Girl directed by Mikael Marcimain Best Canadian Short Film: Keep a Modest Head directed by Deco Dawson Honorable Mention: Mike Clattenburg’s Crackin’ Down Hard NETPAC Award for the Best First or Second Feature: The Land of Hope directed by Sion Sono Source: First Showing