Irish republican Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender) slowly ends his life through a hunger strike at Maze prison in 1980s Northern Ireland in British director Steve McQueen's Hunger, which nabbed a best picture and best first feature prize from Toronto critics. Irish republican Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender) slowly ends his life through a hunger strike at Maze prison in 1980s Northern Ireland in British director Steve McQueen's Hunger, which nabbed a best picture and best first feature prize from Toronto critics. (Maple Pictures)

The Toronto Film Critics Association has selected its top movies for 2009 and, for the first time, the best picture category resulted in a tie between the Irish drama Hunger and Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

The group's picks differed from those in Los Angeles and New York City, where critics chose Katherine Bigelow's Iraq war piece, The Hurt Locker, as the year's top film.

Bigelow's film was runner-up in the Toronto competition, but she was named best director.

Hunger, about the 1981 hunger strike at Ireland's notorious Maze prison, also nabbed a best first feature trophy for British artist Steve McQueen.

The critics' picks also ended in a draw in the screenplay category with Jason Reitman's Up in the Airtied with Inglourious Basterds.

Nicolas Cage was victorious as best actor for his role as a drug-addicted cop in Werner Herzog's The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

The association handed British newcomer Carey Mulligan the best actress accolade in the coming-of-age film An Education.

Up in the Air's Anna Kendrick was named best supporting actress, while Christoph Waltz took best supporting actor for his turn as a Nazi villain in Inglourious Basterds.

Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, which was triumphant at the European Film Awards over the weekend, was named best foreign film.

Other prizes included Louie Psihoyos's thrilling exposé of Japan's dolphin slaughter, The Cove, in the documentary division while Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox grabbed best animated feature.

Canadian feature trophy to be announced

The 2009 TFCA Awards, voted on by Toronto-area film journalists, will be presented at a gala dinner in the city on Jan. 12, hosted by Cameron Bailey, co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival.

It is also then that the association will announce the winner of the $10,000 Rogers Best Canadian Feature Award.

Films in the running are:

  • The Necessities of Life by Benoit Pilon.
  • Polytechnique by Denis Villeneuve.
  • Pontypool by Bruce McDonald.