Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast wins Toronto People’s Choice Award

Director Kenneth Branagh, whose film Belfast won the People’s Choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival (Chris Young/The Canadian Press/AP)

Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical Belfast – a black-and-white family drama about the city amid the tumult of the late 1960s – on Saturday won the Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award, a telling indicator of Academy Awards chances.

The event’s top honour, voted by festivalgoers, is widely viewed as an Oscar harbinger. The previous nine winners have all gone on to secure a best-picture Oscar nomination, as have 13 of the last 14 People’s Choice prize winners. Those include best-picture winners 12 Years a Slave, Green Book and last year’s pick, Nomadland.