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A raw film about an abused teen named Precious won the audience choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival at the weekend, stoking predictions that the harrowing, Oprah Winfrey-backed tale is Oscar-bound.
Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire, grabbed the coveted award at a luncheon. The win for Precious follows a sensational debut earlier this year at Sundance, where the film claimed the grand jury and audience awards.
Piers Handling, co-director of the Toronto festival, said the movie's remarkable success is not unlike last year's surprise sensation, Slumdog Millionaire.
"I think people want to see real stories about real people who are being tested in some kind of way and at the end of the day, hopefully, come out ahead of the game," said Handling. "As I think about it, it probably bears a lot of resemblance to last year's Slumdog Millionaire."
The film revolves around an obese teen who has been impregnated for the second time by her father, and stars Gabourey (Gabby) Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey. Tyler Perry and Winfrey serve as executive producers.
The People's Choice award includes a $14,000 prize.
Other prizes handed out included the award for best Canadian first feature film, which went to Quebec's Alexandre Franchi for The Wild Hunt, set in the fantasy-reality of a large role-playing game. The award for best Canadian short film went to Pedro Pires for Danse Macabre, which was based on a concept by Robert Lepage.
