Chloé Zhao's Hamnet Wins 2025 Toronto Film Festival People's Choice Award

Chloé Zhao’s film "Hamnet" won the 50th anniversary Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) People’s Choice Award, enhancing its chances for a Best Picture Oscar nomination. Zhao is the first director to win this audience-voted award twice, having previously won for "Nomadland" in 2020, which also secured the Best Picture Oscar. The TIFF People’s Choice Award has historically been a strong predictor of Oscar success, with 15 of the last 17 winners receiving Best Picture nominations and five winning the award outright. "Hamnet" premiered at Telluride and topped a list of audience favorites, with Guillermo del Toro’s "Frankenstein" and Rian Johnson’s "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery" as runners-up. Although the 2025 festival did not generate the usual high-profile sales, several films, including "Hamnet," are expected to gain distribution and awards season momentum. This year’s results continue the tradition of TIFF’s significant influence on the awards landscape, with many past People’s Choice winners and runners-up going on to receive Oscar nominations.