TIFF 2026: ‘La Bola Negra’ wins people’s choice award, Theja Rio’s ‘Angh’ takes platform prize

Toronto: 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.