The Imitation Game, a movie about Alan Turing’s life, has won the People’s Choice award at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.
Benedict Cumberbatch stars in the drama about the British code breaker who helped decrypt the Enigma machine during World War II.
In a message, director Morten Tyldum said it was “an amazing honor” to win the prize.
“For film fans to support the Imitation Game means so much to me, the entire cast and film-making team,” he said.
The Imitation Game tells the story of British code breaker Alan Turing who helped decrypt the Enigma machine during World War II
Alan Turing was credited with bringing about the end of the war and saving hundreds of thousands of lives after decoding German Naval messages.
He is also considered to be the founding father of the modern-day computer.
However, Alan Turing’s later life was overshadowed after a conviction in 1952 for gross indecency when homos**uality was illegal in Britain.
Alan Turing was chemically castrated and committed suicide in 1954.
Earlier this week, Morten Tyldum described The Imitation Game as “a tribute to being different”.
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James Gandolfini’s final movie, The Drop, has premiered at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.
The Drop sees James Gandolfini playing a Brooklyn bar owner who facilitates the criminal underworld’s money-laundering.
James Gandolfini died in June 2013 after suffering a heart attack, shortly after shooting the film.
Co-star Tom Hardy paid tribute to James Gandolfini on the red carpet, saying he was “very grateful to have the privilege of working with him”.
“There’s very few people who have a very specific ability and talent and he’s a brilliant actor,” he told reporters.
The Drop sees James Gandolfini playing a Brooklyn bar owner who facilitates the criminal underworld’s money-laundering
The Drop is based on the short story Animal Rescue by author Dennis Lehane, who also wrote previous crime novels Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River.
Dennis Lehane, who also wrote the screenplay for the film, said that when James Gandolfini was cast he wanted to include more dialogue “because of how [he] can turn street speech into a symphony”.
James Gandolfini’s ex-wife Marcy attended the premiere along with their 14-year-old son Michael, who said he was “really proud” of his father.
“He loved acting. He loved being an actor. I know how hard he worked and I love how hard he worked,” Michael Gandolfini said.
“I want the world and everyone just to know that he was more than just an actor.
“He didn’t want to be Tony Soprano; he wanted to go on and push himself more, try to get harder, get different.”
Another James Gandolfini film released after his death, the romantic comedy Enough Said co-starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, also premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year.
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The Toronto International Film Festival is due to begin later in Canada.
Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall legal drama The Judge will officially kick off the 10-day event.
The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival is currently being held from September 4 to 14.
Both stars are expected to grace the red carpet for the gala at Toronto’s Roy Thompson Hall.
Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall legal drama The Judge will officially kick off the Toronto International Film Festival
Some 300 films will be screened at the festival, including Alan Turing movie The Imitation Game and Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything.
Al Pacino film The Humbling – based on Philip Roth’s final novel – will also premiere on September 4.
The Oscar-winner was honored at the festival’s charity gala , with a Q&A looking back over his career.
King Street, on which the festival’s main headquarters is situated, has been closed to traffic and streetcars to enable the public to get closer to the red carpet action.
Other films set to premiere include a big screen version of the 1980s TV series The Equalizer starring Denzel Washington, Michael Douglas thriller The Reach and Ethan Hawke drone drama Good Kill.
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