TIFF 2026: ‘La Bola Negra’ wins People’s Choice Award, Theja Rio’s ‘Angh’ takes Platform Prize

Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s Cannes-winning Spanish drama claimed TIFF’s coveted audience prize, while Indian filmmaker Theja Rio’s ‘Angh’ secured a direct route into the 2027 Oscar race with its Platform victory

Published - September 21, 2026 01:02 pm IST

Stills from ‘La Bola Negra’ and ‘Angh’ | Photo Credit: TIFF

Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s La Bola Negra has won the People’s Choice Award at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, adding one of the awards season’s most closely watched audience prizes to a run that began with a Best Director victory at Cannes earlier this year. Indian filmmaker Theja Rio also emerged among TIFF’s major winners, with his Nagaland-set Angh taking the festival’s juried Platform Prize and, under new Academy rules introduced this year, securing direct eligibility for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2027 Oscars.

La Bola Negra, directed by Calvo and Ambrossi, collectively known as Los Javis, finished ahead of Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky, which was named first runner-up, and Siân Heder’s Being Heumann, the second runner-up. The People’s Choice Award is decided by audiences attending TIFF screenings and has developed a formidable awards-season record: 16 of its 18 winners since Slumdog Millionaire in 2008 have subsequently received Best Picture nominations at the Academy Awards.

Inspired by Federico García Lorca’s unfinished play of the same name, La Bola Negra follows the interconnected lives of three gay men across Spain in 1932, 1937 and 2017. The film stars Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau and Carlos González alongside Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close and Lola Dueñas. It premiered in competition at Cannes in May, where Calvo and Ambrossi shared the Best Director prize with Paweł Pawlikowski for Fatherland. Netflix subsequently acquired the film and is mounting an awards campaign ahead of its December 2 streaming release.

A message from your winners of the #TIFF26 People's Choice Award presented by @rogers ♥️The directors of LA BOLA NEGRA, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi thank TIFF audiences for the incredible support that helped the film take home this year's top audience honour.… pic.twitter.com/HyjAXKeJPb— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) September 20, 2026

The Toronto victory also gives La Bola Negra another significant credential heading into the 2027 Academy Awards after Spain selected the film as its official submission for Best International Feature Film. It becomes the first non-English-language film to win TIFF’s principal People’s Choice Award since Nadine Labaki’s Where Do We Go Now? in 2011.

India meanwhile, picked up one of TIFF’s biggest juried honours through Rio’s Angh. Set in Nagaland near the Indo-Burma border, the film centres on the last surviving chief of a village confronting profound changes to his community and way of life. The Platform jury awarded the film its $20,000 CAD prize for what it described as a “refreshing perspective” and a “deeply resonant portrait of a world,” while praising Rio’s “vision, audacity and courage.”

Announcing the winner of the #TIFF26 Platform Award: ANGH dir. Theja Rio pic.twitter.com/wlfilfeccE— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) September 20, 2026

The victory is particularly significant this year. For the first time, a non-English-language winner of TIFF’s Platform Prize can qualify directly for consideration in the Academy’s Best International Feature Film category, following an expansion of the category’s eligibility rules. Angh therefore enters the 2027 Oscar race independently of India’s Film Federation of India selection process. India has separately selected Santosh Davakhar’s Marathi film Gondhal as its official national submission.

Elsewhere, Simon Stone’s Elsinore, starring Andrew Scott, won the International People’s Choice Award, with Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love finishing as first runner-up and Hur Jin-ho’s The Assassin(s) taking second runner-up. Barry Avrich’s Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been won the documentary audience award, while Matthew Rankin’s Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney took the Midnight Madness People’s Choice prize.

The 51st Toronto International Film Festival concluded on September 20 after an 11-day edition featuring 294 films, with the awards announced during the festival’s closing-day ceremony at TIFF Lightbox.

Published - September 21, 2026 01:02 pm IST

cinema / English cinema / film festival / The Oscars / arts, culture and entertainment

Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.