Toronto Film Festival, Kenneth Branagh wins with Belfast

Belfast, Kenneth Branagh's most autobiographical film wins the People's Choice Award at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival

: a recognition that has proved in its history an almost sure antechamber for the nominations and often the Oscar victories (among the other titles to which it has gone in the last ten years: The positive side, 12 years a slave, The imitation Game, Room, La La land, The Manifesti in Ebbing Missouri, Green Book, JoJo Rabbit and Nomadland). "The first screening of Belfast in Toronto was one of the most memorable experiences of my career - the actor and director made his debut in the thank-you video -. The fact that Canadian audiences have related in such a profound way to the history of the film. it overwhelmed us, and brought Jamie Dornan (one of the protagonists) and me to live an evening of laughter and tears ". For the award "I am thrilled and incredibly grateful". 

Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson's Scarborough, a coming-of-age story about three children raised in a poor neighborhood in Toronto, ranks second in the rankings of the audience voting the People's Choice Award at the Festival. In third place is Jane Campion's The Power of the dog. (another strong contender for the major awards of the season, including the Oscars) already awarded at the Venice International Film Festival with the Silver Lion for Direction. Among other accolades, the People's Choice award for best documentary goes to The Rescue by E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, while the Audience Award for the Midnight Madness section is won by Julia Ducournau's Palme d'Or at Cannes Titane.

The British filmmaker, born in 1960, in Belfast tells of his childhood in his native Northern Irish capital, which his Protestant family left in 1969 to move to England at the beginning of the first phase of the Troubles, the clashes between Irish Catholic Republicans and the Irish Protestant Unionists. Among the performers, with Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Ciaran Hinds, Colin Morgan, and Jude Hill in the role of the little protagonist, Buddy.