New Zealand director Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit has won the coveted People's Choice Award at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.
The film is a comedy about a boy whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler.
"Jojo Rabbit," directed by New Zealand's Taika Waititi, was awarded the People's Choice Award, which comes with a cash prize of $CAD15,000 ($AU13,637), the festival announced on Sunday.
The winner is chosen by the public, rather than a jury.
Director Waititi also stars in the film as the conjured-up Nazi dictator, together with Scarlett Johansson, who plays the German boy's mother.
The boy, Jojo, is played by newcomer Roman Griffin Davis.
The honour positions the film for a potential Oscar run and bolsters its awards chances.
"It's a huge honour, and it's a massive deal for me," Waititi said in a video posted on Twitter following the announcement.
The award reminded him that there is "still room for stories like this and we need to continue to tell them," he added.
"We need to continue to educate our kids and ourselves and remind ourselves that there's no place in this world for hate and intolerance."
Set in wartime Nazi Germany, the film tells the story of Jojo and his shock at discovering a Jewish girl hiding in his home, who manages to open his mind to the injustices of the dictatorship.
Toronto's top prize has uncanny predictive powers when it comes to selecting future Oscar winners.
Last year's winner, Green Book, went on to capture the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Previous victors include La La Land, Room, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and The Imitation Game, all of which went on to score with Oscar voters and other awards bodies.
Waititi is known for indie cinema hits What We Do in the Shadows and Eagle vs Shark.
He then went on to direct Thor: Ragnarok in 2017, his first major Hollywood film, released in 2017.
Australian Associated Press
