Director Barry Avrich arrives on the red carpet for “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue” at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO — A film about an Israeli general's rescue mission on Oct. 7 took home one of the top audience awards at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, giving director Barry Avrich a sense of validation after protesters clashed outside its single screening.

"The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue," won the People's Choice Award for best documentary at the TIFF Awards on Sunday, days after it drew competing pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protests outside Roy Thomson Hall, the festival's largest theatre.

"As a director and as a producer, you make films for an audience. It's not about the critics, not about anybody else. It's about the audience. And so to have the audience vote for this film? Incredibly validating," Avrich said after the ceremony.

The documentary chronicles retired Israeli general Noam Tibon’s effort to rescue his family during the 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel, when 1,200 people were killed and 251 were abducted. Avrich has repeatedly said the film is not political: it's about family.

In his acceptance speech, the director thanked TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey.

"I appreciate everything that TIFF has done for us," he said.

Last month, TIFF announced it had pulled the film from its lineup due to security concerns and rights issues, prompting criticism from politicians, Jewish organizations and entertainment industry figures.

The festival reinstated the film days later, and Bailey promised clearer communication around programming decisions. Reporters were told Bailey would not be available for interviews on Sunday.

Protesters decried the decision to reinstate the film, saying it amounted to "Israeli propaganda" that could be used to justify that country's retaliatory offensive.

There was tension both in and outside the theatre on Wednesday when the film had its world premiere. It received two standing ovations, but the mood shifted during the Q-and-A when the topic turned to a moment in the film in which Tibon's wife, Gali, calls for change in Israel.

“The war on Gaza should have stopped a long time ago and it could have stopped a time long ago. It would do good to everybody in the region, but especially to Israel. We could have had our hostages back a long time ago,” she said.

When some in the crowd objected to Gali’s response, she said she wasn’t there to give a lecture and that she could only say “many lives could have been saved."

Since Oct. 7, more than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in the Gaza Strip, local health officials said earlier this month. The ministry doesn’t say how many of those killed in the war were militants or civilians, but says women and children make up around half the dead.

As the winner, the documentary was scheduled to screen Sunday afternoon. The first runner-up for the prize was Baz Luhrman's "EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert," while Nick Davis's "You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution..." was second runner-up.

Meanwhile, the general People's Choice Award — long considered a bellwether for the Oscars — went to "Hamnet," Chloe Zhao's Shakespeare origin story starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley.

The honour makes Zhao the sole two-time winner of the prize. She previously took it home for "Nomadland" in 2020. It went on to win best picture at the Oscars.

Zhao wasn't present to accept the award in person, but in a recorded acceptance speech mistakenly projected upside down, she said sharing her art with the world makes her feel less lonely.

"It's especially meaningful for me and for my team to receive the People's Choice Award because you are who we make these films for to tell these stories to, hoping that you would open your heart and share your presence with us and with each other," she said.

"Frankenstein," directed by Guillermo del Toro, was named first runner-up on Sunday, while Rian Johnson's "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery" was second runner-up for the coveted prize.

The first-ever People's Choice Award for an international film -- that is, one not from Canada or the United States -- went to "No Other Choice" from director Park Chan-wook. Runners-up were "Sentimental Value" from Joachim Trier and "Homebound" from Neeraj Ghaywan.

The People's Choice Award for the favoured film in the Midnight Madness program went to Matt Johnson's "Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie."

The best Canadian feature award went to "Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband)," directed by Zacharias Kunuk.

"Blue Heron," a film from Toronto's Sophy Romvari, won the best Canadian discovery award, a jury prize that goes to an early-career filmmaker.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025