Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Belfast’ wins TIFF People’s Choice Award

Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical “Belfast,” a black-and-white family drama about the Northern Ireland city during the tumult of the late 1960s, on Saturday won the Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award, a telling indicator of Academy Awards chances.

The festival’s top honor, voted on by festivalgoers at TIFF, is widely viewed as an Oscar harbinger. The previous nine winners have all gone on to secure a best-picture Oscar nomination, as have 13 of the last 14 People’s Choice prizewinners. Those include best-picture winners “12 Years a Slave,” “Green Book” and last year’s pick, Chloé Zhoe’s “Nomadland.”

“Belfast,” which first premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, draws from Branagh’s own childhood in Belfast. The film, which stars Jamie Dornan, Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds, will be released Nov. 12 by Focus Features

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