‘Precious’ Snags Audience Choice Award At TIFF

First Published: September 19, 2009 6:09 PM EDT Credit: AP

TORONTO, Canada -- Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige participate in a news conference for the film ‘Precious’ during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on September 13, 2009 Caption Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige participate in a news conference for the film ‘Precious’ during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on September 13, 2009 A raw film about an abused teen named Precious has won the audience choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The harrowing tale, “Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire,” snagged the coveted award Saturday, the last day of the festival.

Before coming to Toronto, the film wowed audiences at the Sundance festival, taking the grand jury and audience awards there.

Piers Handling, co-director of the Toronto festival, says the remarkable success of “Precious” is not unlike last year’s surprise sensation, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

After winning the audience choice award in Toronto, “Slumdog” went on to sweep the big categories at the Oscars.

Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 
 
 
 

More Content