“Eastern Promises’, directed by Canada’s David Cronenberg and starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts, triumphed at the recent Toronto Film Festival by winning the top prize of the event, the People’s Choice Award.
The film follows the mysterious and ruthless Nikolai (Mortensen), who is tied to one of London’s most notorious organised crime families. His carefully maintained existence is jarred when he crosses paths with Anna (Naomi Watts), an innocent midwife trying to right a wrong, who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family.
First runner-up of the People’s Choice Award was Montreal-born Jason Rietman’s heartwarming coming of age film “Juno’. Phil Donahue’s documentary about Kansas City’s Tomas Young, who was shot and paralysed in Iran, was judged second runner-up.
Rodrigo Pla’s “La Zona’ was awarded the International Critics/FIPRESCI award.
One of the most talked about films was Craig Gillespie’s “Lars and the Real Girl’, starring Canadian Ryan Gosling (“Half Nelson’) as an emotionally scarred social misfit who falls in love with a sex doll.
