'Slumdog Millionaire' Wins People's Choice Award in Toronto

It's not a guarantee of anything in the down the line, although other films to win the honor include Chariots of Fire, American Beauty, Life is Beautiful and Hotel Rwanda, so the future for Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire might be pretty bright after winning the Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Award on Saturday. The film gained notoriety earlier in the festival for a completely unrelated reason; at a screening of Slumdog, New York Post critic Lou Lumenick swatted Roger Ebert with a binder when Ebert tried to get his colleague's attention to move out of the way so Roger could read subtitiles. The story revolves around a young man living in poverty in India who becomes a contestant on a version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire not for his own financial gain but to prove his devotion for a friend, who is a big fan of the show. Boyle is well-known to American audiences as the director of Trainspotting and 28 Days Later, but several of his other films, particularly Shallow Grave, Millions, and at least of his recent Sunshine are not only very good, but they also provide ample evidence that Boyle can direct just about anything. The best Canadian feature film award went to Rodrigue Jean's Lost Song, while Hunger by another Steve McQueen picked up the Discovery trophy and Lymelife by director Derick Martini won the FIPRESCI prize.