Run Terry Run is the winner of the LiUNA! People’s Choice Award at this year’s Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF). The film directed by Sean Menard was announced as the audience favourite as this year’s festival wrapped with notably increased audience attendance and a busy 11-day event. Run Terry Run was one of four documentaries in contention for the WIFF Prize in Canadian Film and the festival welcomed Terry Fox’s brother, Darrell Fox, who participated in post-screening conversations with audiences to share his perspective on the landmark Marathon of Hope that the film chronicles. WIFF will have a free encore screening of Run Terry Run tonight as another chance for audiences to see it.
“Sean Menard has done incredible work to put together a film that gets us all closer to Terry Fox and his astounding story,” said WIFF Executive Director and Chief Programmer Vincent Georgie in a statement from the festival. “It is a true pleasure to award a film that celebrates a Canadian icon, and a story that emphasizes the need to come together as a country.”
Run Terry Run offers an all-archival account of Fox’s cross-Canada run to raise awareness for cancer research. The film premiered earlier this fall at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been a box office hit as audiences continue to be inspired by Fox’s story and courage. The film is now playing in select cinemas.
Runners-up for the audience award were Peter Farrelly’s dramedy I Play Rocky, about Sylvester Stallone’s passionate pitch to make the Oscar winning classic, and Barry Avrich’s documentary Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been about the beloved singer. Docs were centre stage at WIFF this year with the Goodfellas film As Far Back as I Can Remember drawing a full house to honour Lorraine Bracco and with Avrich’s This Above All: The Theatrical Life of Antoni Cimolino screening as the festival’s centrepiece selection, while Matthew Rankin’s Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney won the $25,000 WIFF Prize in Canadian Film.
