The People’s Choice award at the 33rd annual Toronto International Film Festival went to Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. In accepting the award, the film’s star, Freida Pinto, said, “This is a film about an underdog who believes insomething, and is a tribute to Mumbai.” The film is about how a teen from the slums of India wins the Hindi version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and attempts to prove his love for his friend.

The festival opened Sept. 4 and showed more than 300 films. In addition to awards,filmmakers hope to secure distribution for their independent projects. Some of the high-profile U.S. distribution deals included The Wrestler, Che, and The Hurt Locker.

Other prize winners included Disgrace, starring John Malkovich, which won the Fipresci International Critics’ Prize; and Lymelife, starring Alec Baldwin and Rory and Kieran Culkin, which won the Fipresci Jury’s Prize for a film in the Discovery program. The Camera d’Or prize went to Hunger, the drama about IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands.