History of Movies
My Library

TIFF People's Choice Award Winners

Toronto's audience award — cinema's most reliable Oscar bellwether: every People's Choice winner in our library, ranked by composite canon score rather than by festival year.

Award results are facts and are listed in full. The score chip is our composite canon score.

  1. 1
    Chariots of Fire1981 · Hugh Hudson · United Kingdom / Australia · biography, drama
    3.55

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1981 · BAFTA Best Film winner 1982 · TIFF People's Choice winner 1981

  2. 2
    12 Years a Slave2013 · Steve McQueen · United Kingdom / United States · drama, biography
    3.14

    Oscar Best Picture winner 2013 · BAFTA Best Film winner 2014 · TIFF People's Choice winner 2013

  3. 3
    Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri2017 · Martin McDonagh · United States / United Kingdom · drama, comedy, mystery
    3.00

    BAFTA Best Film winner 2018 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2018 #1 · TIFF People's Choice winner 2017

  4. 4
    Nomadland2020 · Chloé Zhao · United States · drama
    3.00

    Oscar Best Picture winner 2020 · BAFTA Best Film winner 2021 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2021 #1

  5. 5
    The King's Speech2010 · Tom Hooper · United Kingdom · biography, drama
    2.82

    Oscar Best Picture winner 2010 · BAFTA Best Film winner 2011 · TIFF People's Choice winner 2010

  6. 6
    Life Is Beautiful1997 · Roberto Benigni · Italy · comedy, drama
    2.80

    Cannes Grand Prix winner 1998 · TIFF People's Choice winner 1998 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1998

  7. 7
    American Beauty1999 · Sam Mendes · United States · comedy, drama
    2.74

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1999 · BAFTA Best Film winner 2000 · TIFF People's Choice winner 1999

  8. 8
    Slumdog Millionaire2008 · Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan · United Kingdom · romance, drama, crime
    2.65

    Oscar Best Picture winner 2008 · BAFTA Best Film winner 2009 · TIFF People's Choice winner 2008

  9. 9
    Amélie2001 · Jean-Pierre Jeunet · France / Germany · comedy, romance, drama
    2.58

    César Best Film winner 2002 · TIFF People's Choice winner 2001 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2001 #6

  10. 10
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon2000 · Ang Lee · United States / Taiwan, China / Hong Kong, China · romance, fantasy, action
    2.44

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2000 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2000 · Film Comment year-end poll 2000 #6

  11. 11
    Green Book2018 · Peter Farrelly · United States · comedy, drama, biography
    2.39

    Oscar Best Picture winner 2018 · TIFF People's Choice winner 2018 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2019 #5

  12. 12
    Precious2009 · Lee Daniels · United States · drama
    2.29

    Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner 2009 · TIFF People's Choice winner 2009 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2009

  13. 13
    La La Land2016 · Damien Chazelle · United States · romance, comedy, drama
    2.29

    BAFTA Best Film winner 2017 · TIFF People's Choice winner 2016 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2016

  14. 14
    The Fabelmans2022 · Steven Spielberg · United States · drama
    2.27

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2022 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2022 · Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 2023 #4

  15. 15
    The Big Chill1983 · Lawrence Kasdan · United States · drama, musical
    2.08

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1983 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1983 · National Film Registry (inducted 2025)

  16. 16
    Roger & Me1989 · Michael Moore · United States · documentary
    1.99

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1989 · Siskel's annual top 10 1989 #2 · National Film Registry (inducted 2013)

  17. 17
    Cyrano de Bergerac1990 · Jean-Paul Rappeneau · France · romance, drama, comedy
    1.86

    César Best Film winner 1991 · TIFF People's Choice winner 1990 · Empire 500 (2008) #143

  18. 18
    Shine1996 · Scott Hicks · Australia · musical, biography, drama
    1.63

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1996 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1996 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1997 #4

  19. 19
    Places in the Heart1984 · Robert Benton · United States · drama
    1.58

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1984 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1984 · Sarris's annual top 10 1984 #4

  20. 20
    Belfast2021 · Kenneth Branagh · United Kingdom · drama, biography, comedy
    1.53

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2021 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2021 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2022 #7

  21. 21
    Room2015 · Lenny Abrahamson · Canada / Ireland / United States · drama
    1.49

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2015 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2015 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2016 #10

  22. 22
    Silver Linings Playbook2012 · David O. Russell · United States · drama, comedy, romance
    1.44

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2012 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2012 · Film Comment year-end poll 2012 #18

  23. 23
    Eastern Promises2007 · David Cronenberg · Canada / United Kingdom / United States · crime, drama, mystery
    1.42

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2007 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2008 #6 · Film Comment year-end poll 2007 #8

  24. 24
    The Princess Bride1987 · Rob Reiner · United States / Australia · comedy, romance, fantasy
    1.35

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1987 · National Film Registry (inducted 2016) · Empire 500 (2008) #122

  25. 25
    The Imitation Game2014 · Morten Tyldum · United States · war, biography, drama
    1.20

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2014 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2014

  26. 26
    Jojo Rabbit2019 · Taika Waititi · New Zealand / Czech Republic / United States · comedy, drama, war
    1.20

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2019 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2019

  27. 27
    Girlfriends1978 · Claudia Weill · United States · comedy, drama
    1.14

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1978 · National Film Registry (inducted 2019) · Criterion Collection spine #1055

  28. 28
    Zatōichi2003 · Takeshi Kitano · Japan · action, drama
    1.08

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2003 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (Japanese) 2003 #7

  29. 29
    Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown1988 · Pedro Almodóvar · Spain · comedy
    1.08

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1988 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Criterion Collection spine #855

  30. 30
    The Fisher King1991 · Terry Gilliam · United States · fantasy, comedy, drama
    1.08

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1991 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Criterion Collection spine #764

  31. 31
    Hotel Rwanda2004 · Terry George · South Africa / United States / Italy · drama, biography
    1.08

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2004 · Sarris's annual top 10 2004 #6 · Ebert's annual top 10 2004 #9

  32. 32
    Whale Rider2002 · Niki Caro · Germany / New Zealand · drama
    1.08

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2002 · Film Comment year-end poll 2003 #50 · Ebert's annual top 10 2003 #9

  33. 33
    Antonia's Line1995 · Marleen Gorris · Netherlands · comedy, drama
    1.07

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1995 · Sarris's annual top 10 1996 #2

  34. 34
    The Official Story1985 · ルイス・プエンソ · Argentina · drama
    0.94

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1985 · Siskel's annual top 10 1985 #5

  35. 35
    The Decline of the American Empire1986 · Denys Arcand · Canada · drama, comedy
    0.92

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1986 · Sarris's annual top 10 1986 #7

  36. 36
    Bad Timing1980 · Nicolas Roeg · United Kingdom · thriller, romance, drama
    0.91

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1980 · Criterion Collection spine #303

  37. 37
    Best Boy1979 · Ira Wohl · United States · documentary
    0.89

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1979 · Ebert's annual top 10 1980 #10

  38. 38
    Tempest1982 · Paul Mazursky · United States · comedy, drama, adventure
    0.75

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1982

  39. 39
    Strictly Ballroom1992 · Baz Luhrmann · Australia · comedy, romance
    0.75

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1992

  40. 40
    The Snapper1993 · Stephen Frears · United Kingdom / Ireland · comedy, drama
    0.75

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1993

  41. 41
    Priest1994 · Antonia Bird · United Kingdom · drama
    0.75

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1994

  42. 42
    The Hanging Garden1997 · Thom Fitzgerald · Canada / United Kingdom · drama
    0.75

    TIFF People's Choice winner 1997

  43. 43
    Tsotsi2005 · Gavin Hood · South Africa / United Kingdom · drama, crime
    0.75

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2005

  44. 44
    Bella2006 · Alejandro Monteverde · United States · drama, romance
    0.75

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2006

  45. 45
    Where Do We Go Now?2011 · Nadine Labaki · France / Lebanon / Italy · drama, comedy
    0.75

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2011

  46. 46
    American Fiction2023 · Cord Jefferson · United States · drama
    0.75

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2023

  47. 47
    The Life of Chuck2024 · Mike Flanagan · United States · sci-fi, drama, fantasy
    0.75

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2024

  48. 48
    Hamnet2025 · Chloé Zhao · United States / United Kingdom · drama, biography
    0.75

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2025

The crowd as bellwether

Toronto's People's Choice Award is the rare festival prize with no jury: ballots are cast by ordinary ticket-holders after each screening, then weighted against the size of the room so a film shown in a bigger theatre gains no automatic edge. That makes it a reading of collective enthusiasm rather than critical consensus — and yet it has become, in Wikipedia's phrase, the effective "starting gun" of the Academy's Best Picture race. The record is hard to argue with. Seven winners gathered here went the whole distance to the Academy's top prize: Chariots of Fire (1981), American Beauty (1999), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), The King's Speech (2010), 12 Years a Slave (2013), Green Book (2018) and Nomadland (2020). An audience in September, it turns out, forecasts the Academy the following spring with startling reliability.

Where the crowd and the canon part ways

Predicting Oscars, though, is not the same as predicting durability, and our composite score — which reflects accumulated canonical standing rather than a single season's momentum — pulls the two apart. The highest-ranked winner here is the oldest Best Picture in the group: Chariots of Fire, at #89 overall, its standing built across four decades of lists and registries. The sweeps of recent seasons fare worse. Green Book took Best Picture yet sits at #257 by composite; La La Land (2016), which nearly swept its own ceremony, lands at #287; even Nomadland, which won everything from Venice to the Academy, settles at #157 — a heavily decorated season still waiting for the retrospective canon to weigh in. The pattern is clear enough: the Toronto audience is an excellent scout for the Oscar shortlist, and a far less reliable one for the films criticism keeps returning to a decade on.

How to read our list

The order here is ours, not Toronto's. The festival announces its winners chronologically, one per year, with runners-up added only from 2000; we take that roll of 48 films and re-rank it entirely by composite canon score, which is why Chariots of Fire at #89 outranks the more recent Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) at #156. After the Best Picture cluster near the top, the list descends a long slope of well-liked crowd-pleasers — Life Is Beautiful (1997), Amélie (2001), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) — down to festival darlings that never travelled as far, like Strictly Ballroom (1992) and The Snapper (1993). The earliest winner we hold, Claudia Weill's Girlfriends (1978), is a reminder that this crowd was picking discoveries long before its ballots doubled as Oscar futures.