Toronto’s People’s Choice Award positions films for Oscar success, but to win you must qualify. Not everyone did this year.
WB/Legendary’s DUNE, Neon’s SPENCER & Focus’s LAST NIGHT IN SOHO are all likely contenders for prime Oscar races, but none made the PCA cut. To begin with, filmmakers Denis Villeneuve, Pablo Larrain & Edgar Wright didn’t agree to screen digitally in addition to theatre showings. All three are totally committed to their films being seen on the big screen.
Only Official Selections are considered for PCA. DUNE & SPENCER played out of competition, so they wouldn’t have qualified even if they did screen digitally. SOHO would have been okay since it was a Gala Presentation.
Nonetheless, all three titles benefited from playing at TIFF. DUNE was a huge hit at Venice and already had a big Oscar buzz going. SPENCER & SOHO, both part of the early Oscar conversation, grew as contenders in 46th TIFF’s media spotlight.
NOMADLAND won 2020’s PCA & best picture Oscar. For the past 8 years, all PCA wins have had Oscar picture noms. That’s good news for 2021 PCA winner — Kenneth Branagh’s drama BELFAST (pictured), opening 11/12 via Focus.