By Cameron French
"Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" won the top award at the Toronto International Film Festival Saturday, giving the Oprah Winfrey-produced film some early momentum heading into Oscar awards season.
The film, a gritty tale of the abuse and redemption of a teenage girl in Harlem, captured the festival's People's Choice award, which is voted on by filmgoers. Last year it went to best picture Oscar winner "Slumdog Millionaire."
Critics have roundly praised "Precious" since its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and audiences in Toronto warmly received the film, which is directed by Lee Daniels and will hit theaters in November.
"I made this film for every person out there who ever looked in the mirror and felt unsure about the person looking back," Daniels, who is traveling in Spain, said in a statement read out at an awards reception in Toronto.
In addition to "Slumdog Millionaire," past winners of the award that have gone on to win the best picture Oscar include "American Beauty" and "Chariots of Fire."
The festival, which wraps up later Saturday with a red-carpet screening of "The Young Victoria," a look at the British queen's early years, was notable this year for a lack of distribution deals signed as the independent film industry remains mired in a near two-year funk.
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