TIFF 2025: ‘Hamnet,’ ‘No Other Choice,’ and ‘To The Victory!’ Among Top Award Winners at 50th Anniversary Festival

Chloé Zhao, Park Chan-wook, and Valentyn Vasyanovych lead a diverse slate of winners as TIFF wraps its milestone year.

In its 50th anniversary year, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) concluded with a sweeping celebration of global cinema, honoring some of the year’s most acclaimed filmmakers. With a record-breaking 700,000 attendees, 1,200 screenings, and 110 red carpets, TIFF 2025 marked a high point for the international film calendar — culminating in a slate of 12 awards across narrative, documentary, and short form storytelling.

People’s Choice Awards

Leading the pack was Chloé Zhao’s ‘Hamnet,’ which took home the prestigious People’s Choice Award. Adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel, the film was widely praised for its lyrical portrayal of grief and maternal resilience. Zhao, a past TIFF winner and Academy Award darling, returns to awards conversation in full force.

The first runner-up went to Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’, an eerie and emotional reimagining that stunned Venice audiences and continues to build Oscar buzz. Rian Johnson’s ‘Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery’rounded out the top three — marking a strong mainstream showing for the crowd-pleasing sequel.

In its first-ever iteration, the International People’s Choice Award was awarded to Park Chan-wook’s ‘No Other Choice’, with Joachim Trier’s ‘Sentimental Value’ and Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Homebound’ taking second and third place, respectively. TIFF’s global outlook continues to expand, and this new category solidifies its commitment to championing world cinema.

Winners – People’s Choice Awards:

• People’s Choice Award: Hamnet, dir. Chloé Zhao

• First Runner-Up: Frankenstein, dir. Guillermo del Toro

• Second Runner-Up: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, dir. Rian Johnson

• International People’s Choice Award: No Other Choice, dir. Park Chan-wook

• First Runner-Up: Sentimental Value, dir. Joachim Trier

• Second Runner-Up: Homebound, dir. Neeraj Ghaywan

• People’s Choice Documentary Award: The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, dir. Barry Avrich

• First Runner-Up: EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, dir. Baz Luhrmann

• Second Runner-Up: You Had to Be There, dir. Nick Davis

• Midnight Madness Award: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, dir. Matt Johnson

• First Runner-Up: Obsession, dir. Curry Barker

• Second Runner-Up: The Furious, dir. Kenji Tanigaki

Documentary & Midnight Madness Winners

The People’s Choice Documentary Award was handed to Barry Avrich’s ‘The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue’, chronicling a harrowing real-life escape operation. Meanwhile, Matt Johnson’s meta-comedy ‘Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie’ won over the Midnight Madness audience with its chaotic and irreverent energy — proving that Canadian cinema can still be brilliantly weird.

Winners – Documentary & Midnight Madness:

• Documentary Award: The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, dir. Barry Avrich

• First Runner-Up: EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, dir. Baz Luhrmann

• Second Runner-Up: You Had to Be There, dir. Nick Davis

• Midnight Madness Award: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, dir. Matt Johnson

• First Runner-Up: Obsession, dir. Curry Barker

• Second Runner-Up: The Furious, dir. Kenji Tanigaki

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Platform, Jury, and Short Film Awards

The coveted Platform Award — TIFF’s only juried feature competition — went to Valentyn Vasyanovych’s ‘To The Victory!’, which the jury praised for its audacious simplicity, bold vision, and emotional resonance. An honourable mention was given to György Pálfi’s surreal genre-blender ‘Hen.’

In the shorts section, the Short Cuts Award for Best Animated Short Film went to Agnès Patron’s ‘To the Woods,’while Joecar Hanna’s ‘Talk Me’ won Best International Short Film. Canadian standouts included ‘The Girl Who Cried Pearls’ and ‘Blue Heron,’ the latter receiving TIFF’s Best Canadian Discovery Award.

The FIPRESCI Prize, awarded by international critics, went to Lucía Aleñar Iglesias’s debut ‘Forastera’, while the NETPAC Award, recognizing Asian cinema, honored Jitank Singh Gurjar’s ‘In Search of The Sky (Vimukt)’.

Finally, the Best Canadian Feature Film Award was given to Zacharias Kunuk’s ‘Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband)’, lauded for its rich portrayal of ancient Inuit life and myth, continuing Kunuk’s legacy as a master Indigenous filmmaker.

Winners – Platform & Shorts:

• Platform Award: To The Victory!, dir. Valentyn Vasyanovych

• Honourable Mention: Hen, dir. György Pálfi

• Best Animated Short Film: To the Woods, dir. Agnès Patron

• Best International Short Film: Talk Me, dir. Joecar Hanna

• Honourable Mention: Agapito, dirs. Arvin Belarmino & Kyla Danelle Romero

• Best Canadian Short Film: The Girl Who Cried Pearls, dirs. Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski

• Honourable Mention: A Soft Touch, dir. Heather Young

Critics & International Juries

The FIPRESCI Prize, awarded by international critics, went to Lucía Aleñar Iglesias’s debut ‘Forastera’, while the NETPAC Award, recognizing Asian cinema, honored Jitank Singh Gurjar’s ‘In Search of The Sky (Vimukt)’. Both films mark a new wave of storytelling shaped by personal history and poetic realism.

Winners – Critics & Global Awards:

• FIPRESCI Prize: Forastera, dir. Lucía Aleñar Iglesias

• NETPAC Award: In Search of The Sky (Vimukt), dir. Jitank Singh Gurjar

Canadian Feature & Discovery Awards

The Best Canadian Feature Film Award was given to Zacharias Kunuk’s ‘Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband)’, lauded for its rich portrayal of ancient Inuit life and myth, continuing Kunuk’s legacy as a master Indigenous filmmaker. The Best Canadian Discovery Award was presented to Sophy Romvari’s ‘Blue Heron,’ praised for its emotional complexity and editing precision.

Winners – Canadian Awards:

• Best Canadian Feature Film: Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband), dir. Zacharias Kunuk

• Honourable Mention: There Are No Words, dir. Min Sook Lee

• Best Canadian Discovery Award: Blue Heron, dir. Sophy Romvari

• Honourable Mention: 100 Sunset, dir. Kunsang Kyirong

A Global and Diverse TIFF Turns 50

As TIFF continues to position itself as a global tastemaker and Oscar launching pad, this year’s winners reflect an inspiring blend of bold auteurs, major studio efforts, and culturally specific storytelling. From the return of acclaimed directors like Zhao and del Toro to rising voices like Romvari and Aleñar Iglesias, TIFF 2025 proved that its 50th year was as future-focused as it was celebratory.

The next edition TIFF Has already announced for September 10–20, 2026, the bar has been set high for what comes next.