TORONTO, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Morten Tyldum's "The Imitation Game" won the top prize at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday night.
The drama, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, details British mathematician and cryptanalyst Alan Turing's role in the Enigma code-breaking operation during World War II.
There are elements in the film that really strike a chord with the audience, said Cameron Bailey, artistic director of the film festival.
"It's got a great story, it's a story that's not that well-known. This is a man who, through the use of his mind really helped to shorten the Second World War and saved thousands of lives," explained Bailey. "He's a man whose role helped invent the computers that we all use today, and he's a man who suffered because of his sexual orientation because he was gay."
"I think that combination of all those dramatic elements plus the great director Morten Tyldum, plus Benedict Cumberbatch in a really remarkable performance as the lead, that's why people were responding to 'The Imitation Game,'" said Bailey.
The first runner-up to "The Imitation Game" was Isabel Coixet's "Learning to Drive." The drama, starring Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley, revolves around a newly divorced woman who is determined to get her driver's license.
The People's Choice Awards, voted on by fans rather than industry insiders, has always been seen as a strong predictor of Academy Award success. Films like "12 Years a Slave," "The King's Speech," "Slumdog Millionaire," "Silver Linings Playbook" and many others that won the audience's votes at the Toronto film festival ultimately went on to winning much more prestigious awards.
This year's festival also saw 12 Chinese-language films. Though none of them won any awards on Sunday, Bailey believed this year's strong selection shows that more and more renowned Chinese directors are beginning to look at Toronto as a steppingstone onto the international arena.
"I was thrilled with the selection from China this year. We had Ning Hao coming for the very first time. Ning Hao is a major director in China, but he's not as well-known in North America. We were thrilled to make the premiere of his film 'Breakup Buddies,'" said Bailey. "We're also very happy to have Zhang Yimou return after many years with 'Coming Home,' we had Wang Xiaoshuai with his new film 'Red Amnesia.' It was a really strong lineup."
"I think Chinese filmmakers in the industry are really seeing the value of a launch in Toronto," he added.
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