BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- "The King's Speech" took the People's Choice award on Sunday at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival, according to media reports.

The film, directed by Tom Hooper, stars Colin Firth as Britain's reluctant King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as his speech therapist.

Toronto winners often later become Oscar winners. Previous films that won that prize -- "American Beauty", "Slumdog Millionaire" -- later walked off with best picture Oscars.

Runner-up in this year's People's Choice category was Justin Chadwick's "First Grader" from the UK.

"Stake Land" won the Midnight Madness award.

The People's Choice for documentary was "Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie".

The Toronto International Film Festival, a noncompetitive event, is a prime launching place for big Hollywood movies and Academy Awards contenders.