--- ---  # _The Imitation Game_ Takes Top Prize at Toronto Film Festival by [Elizabeth Barber](https://time.com/author/elizabeth-barber/) ## Elizabeth Barber Sep 15, 2014 6:53 AM UTC  Benedict Cumberbatch at "The Imitation Game" premiere during the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival held at Princess of Wales theatre in Toronto on Sept. 9, 2014. Benedict Cumberbatch at "The Imitation Game" premiere during the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival held at Princess of Wales theatre in Toronto on Sept. 9, 2014.Brent Perniac—AdMedia/Corbis by [Elizabeth Barber](https://time.com/author/elizabeth-barber/) ## Elizabeth Barber Sep 15, 2014 6:53 AM UTC _The Imitation Game_, a World War II drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a cryptologist who helps the British score a huge intelligence coup against the Nazis, won the 2014 Grolsch [People’s Choice Award](http://d12gbu3zt5gvms.cloudfront.net/docs/nZGEyY%5FFestival%5FAwards%5F2014%5F8420993%5F1410716778.pdf) at the Toronto International Film Festival. The People’s Choice Award is the festival’s most prestigious prize and considered a bellwether for Oscar wins. Morten Tyldum’s film — set for release on Nov. 21 — casts _Sherlock_ star Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, the computer genius who cracked the German Enigma code — a massive boost for the Allied war effort. Unfortunately, an ungrateful government prosecuted Turing in 1952 for being gay and revoked his security clearance. (Homosexuality was not decriminalized in the U.K. until 1967.) Turing committed suicide in 1954. Keira Knightley co-stars in the film as a code breaker and Turing’s jilted fiancée. Three of the past six People’s Choice Award winners at the Toronto Film Festival have gone on to win the [Best Picture Oscar](http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2014/09/14/tiff%5Fthe%5Fimitation%5Fgame%5Fwins%5Ftop%5Fprize.html) (_Slumdog Millionaire_, _12 Years a Slave_ and _The King’s Speech_), the Toronto _Star_ reports. Meanwhile, the People’s Choice prize in the documentary category went to Hajooj Kuka’s _Beats of the Antonov_, about Sudanese refugees struggling not just to survive but also to preserve their traditions. The Midnight Madness Award, for films in the action, shock, horror and fantasy genres, went to Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s _What We Do in the Shadows_, a comic film about three New Zealand vampires sharing a flat. The 11-day festival wrapped up on Sunday, after screening 392 films from 79 countries. Benedict Cumberbatch: 'The Imitation Game' Takes Top Prize at Toronto ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3375786/the-imitation-game-toronto-film-festival-grolsch-peoples-choice-award-oscars-benedict-cumberbatch-alan-turing-enigma-code/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3375786/the-imitation-game-toronto-film-festival-grolsch-peoples-choice-award-oscars-benedict-cumberbatch-alan-turing-enigma-code/"},"headline":"The Imitation Game Takes Top Prize at Toronto Film Festival","datePublished":"2014-09-15T06:53:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:10:41.997Z","description":"War, injustice and Benedict Cumberbatch combine in the biopic of British cryptologist Alan Turing","url":"https://time.com/3375786/the-imitation-game-toronto-film-festival-grolsch-peoples-choice-award-oscars-benedict-cumberbatch-alan-turing-enigma-code/","keywords":["movies","Benedict Cumberbatch","the imitation game"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt209634003ed07378/6986a34013c79f92eb193d76/benedict-cumberbatch-imitation-game-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Elizabeth Barber","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/elizabeth-barber/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt209634003ed07378/6986a34013c79f92eb193d76/benedict-cumberbatch-imitation-game-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"The Imitation Game\" Premiere - 2014 Toronto International Film Festival","caption":"\"The Imitation Game\" Premiere - 2014 Toronto International Film Festival","creditText":"Brent Perniac—AdMedia/Corbis","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3375786/the-imitation-game-toronto-film-festival-grolsch-peoples-choice-award-oscars-benedict-cumberbatch-alan-turing-enigma-code/","name":"The Imitation Game Takes Top Prize at Toronto Film Festival"}}]}] ```