Lebanese movie, Where Do We Go Now, has won the People Choice award at the 36th Toronto Film Festival. Directed by Nadine Lataki, who had previously made the award-winning movie Caramel, the film tells the story of a group of women in a Lebanese village who decide to act in order to prevent the inter- religious fighting among the men.
Where Do We Go Now, which was debuted last May at Cannes Film Festival and won an award at Sebastian Film Festival, is Lebanon’s submission to next year’s academy awards.
Last year, the trophy’s winner was The King Speech, which went on to dominate the Oscar awards. Other previous winners, such as Slumdog millionaire, American Beauty, Crash have also triumphed at the Oscars.
The Golden Bear winner of Berlin Film Festival, Iranian movie A Separation, was the runner-up for the Audience award.
Films that had enjoyed the festival’s buzz and won the critics praise such as George Clooney’s Ides of March, Alexander Payne’s The Descendants and Brad Pitt’s MoneyBall were not featured among the winners. Nonetheless, it’s widely believed that these movies will be recognized in the upcoming awards season.
Founded in 1976, Toronto Film Festival has become one of the most important film festivals in the world. It serves as a launching point for films and performances that end up winning Academy awards and a market place where distributors sell their movies.