RaMell Ross’s Nickel Boys was the big winner of the Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) 28th annual awards, winning three Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Ross and Best Adapted Screenplay for Ross and Joslyn Barnes.
Payal Kapadia’s Mumbai-set drama All We Imagine as Light won two Awards including Best International Feature along with Best Original Screenplay for Kapadia.
Sean Baker’s Anora won performance awards, with Mikey Madison sharing the Outstanding Lead Performance with Marianne Jean-Baptiste for her performance in Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths; and co-star Yura Borisov won the TFCA’s award for Outstanding Supporting Performance, sharing the honor with Kieran Culkin, for his performance in Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain.
The TFCA also recognized Clarence Maclin with the Breakthrough Performance award for his performance in Sing Sing; and Félix-Antoine Duval won Outstanding Performance in a Canadian Film for his portrayal in Shepherds.
Best Animated Feature went to the Latvian adventure Flow, directed by Gints Zilbalodis, the Allan King Documentary Award went to Mati Diop’s Dahomey and actress and director Anna Kendrick won Best First Feature honor for her drama Woman of the Hour.
The nominees for Rogers Best Canadian Film are Rumours, directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson; Shepherds, directed by Sophie Deraspe; and Universal Language, directed by Matthew Rankin. The nominees for Rogers Best Canadian Documentary are Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, directed by Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee; Yintah, directed by Michael Toledano, Jennifer Wickham, and Brenda Michell; and Your Tomorrow, directed by Ali Weinstein.
TFCA members voted at a live meeting on Sunday, December 15, 2024. They will present these awards, along with the prestigious Rogers Best Canadian Film and Rogers Best Canadian Documentary, on Monday, February 24, 2025, at a gala held at Toronto’s Omni King Edward Hotel, hosted by Canadian actress Amanda Brugel (Orphan Black, The Handmaid’s Tale).
2024 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards winners and runners-up
Best Picture
Nickel Boys (Warner Bros. Canada)
Runners-up: Anora (Elevation Pictures), The Brutalist (Elevation Pictures)
Best Director
RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys (Warner Bros. Canada)
Runners-up: Sean Baker, Anora (Elevation Pictures); Payal Kapadia, All We Imagine as Light (Films We Like)
Outstanding Lead Performance
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths (Mongrel Media); Mikey Madison, Anora (Elevation Pictures)
Runners-up: Adrien Brody, The Brutalist (Elevation Pictures); Colman Domingo, Sing Sing (Elevation Pictures); Ralph Fiennes, Conclave (Elevation Pictures); Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez (Netflix); Demi Moore, The Substance (MUBI)
Outstanding Supporting Performance
Yura Borisov, Anora (Elevation Pictures); Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)
Runners-up: Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing (Elevation Pictures); Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez (Netflix); Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice (Mongrel Media); Denzel Washington, Gladiator II (Paramount Pictures Canada)
Breakthrough Performance
Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing (Elevation Pictures)
Runners-up: Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez (Netflix); Mikey Madison, Anora (Elevation Pictures)
Outstanding Performance in a Canadian Film
Félix-Antoine Duval, Shepherds (Maison 4:3)
Runners-up: Deragh Campbell, Matt and Mara (MDFF); Roy Dupuis, Rumours (Elevation Pictures)
Best Original Screenplay
All We Imagine as Light (Films We Like)
Runners-up: Anora (Elevation Pictures); Challengers (Warner Bros. Canada)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Nickel Boys (Warner Bros Canada)
Runners-up: Conclave (Elevation Pictures); Dune: Part 2 (Warner Bros. Canada)
Best Animated Feature
Flow (Films We Like)
Runners-up: Memoir of a Snail (Mongrel Media); The Wild Robot (Universal Pictures Canada)
Allan King Documentary Award
Dahomey (MUBI)
Runners-up: Occupied City (Films We Like); Soundtrack to a Coup d’État (Films We Like)
Best International Feature
All We Imagine as Light (Films We Like)
Runners-up: Evil Does Not Exist (Films We Like); Green Border (Kino Lorber)
Best First Feature
Woman of the Hour (VVS Films)
Runners-up: 40 Acres (Mongrel Media); Janet Planet (A24); The People’s Joker (Altered Innocence)
Rogers Best Canadian Film Nominees
Rumours (Elevation Pictures)
Shepherds (Maison 4:3)
Universal Language (Maison 4:3)
Rogers Best Canadian Documentary
Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story (NFB/Banger Films)
Yintah (EyeSteelFilm/Netflix)
Your Tomorrow (Blue Ice Docs)
Special Citations:
No Other Land – Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, and Hamdan Ballal
Serena Whitney and the Revue Film Society