THE RAID Wins TIFF Midnight Madness Award!

Big congratulations go out to writer-director Gareth Huw Evans, stars Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Yayan Ruhian and the rest of the team behind Indonesian action picture The Raid, which has just won the Cadillac People's Choice Midnight Madness Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

A largely non-competitive festival Toronto gives out very few awards, the most prominent of which are the People's Choice picks, three awards given based on audience ratings of the films with one each awarded to the Midnight Madness section, the Real To Reel documentary section and the overall festival at large.

As someone with a direct association to The Raid - I'm an executive producer on it - I have to say that we could not possibly be happier with the reception the film has received. The premiere screening was literally the first time anyone had seen the completed film in its entirety - post production was wrapped less than a week prior and the print shipped directly to the festival from the lab - and while we were pretty sure we knew what we had there's a huge difference between watching something in fragments, in isolation, and in uncomplete form, and hearing a crowd roar in appreciation at what's on screen.

Find the complete list of award winners below and the trailer for The Raid below that.

Video

18 Comments

by jamesemanuelshapiro, September 18, 2011 2:13 PM

congrats Todd!

Todd Brown replied to comment from jamesemanuelshapiro, September 18, 2011 5:55 PM

Thanks James!

by J Hurtado, September 18, 2011 4:37 PM

Well done to the entire team of The Raid, I can't wait to see this one!

by arturo, September 18, 2011 6:28 PM

I've posted this trailer to all my friends and work colleagues, and the response is everyone wants to see this...

by kungfueurotrash, September 18, 2011 7:11 PM

Todd, is it too early to be screening this at Fantastic Fest?? When do you think we will get some distribution here in the states and Canada???
I WANNA SEE THIS SUCKER NOW!!!

Todd Brown replied to comment from kungfueurotrash, September 18, 2011 8:45 PM

It's not going to be at Fantastic Fest, the local distributor wants to hold off screenings until closer to the US release. But the good side of that is that, yes, it HAS distribution all around the world. It's Alliance in Canada and Sony in the US, and all indications are that it'll be going out theatrical. Nothing is definite yet but I would expect a US premiere in early 2012.

by markc, September 18, 2011 10:13 PM

Congrats Todd and everyone else involved with The Raid. I cannot wait to see the film! Todd, do you know if Sony plans to give this a wide release in the US, or a limited release like NY and LA only?

Todd Brown replied to comment from markc, September 18, 2011 11:44 PM

Nothing is definite yet but my feeling is it'll be somewhere in between.

by emacs, September 19, 2011 12:52 AM

Congratulations to Todd and the cast and crew of 'The Raid'. I was at the opening night MM screening of the film and it was very, very obvious from the audience reactions that 'The Raid' delivered on many levels.

Also, who made the decision to re-score the film for the upcoming Canada / US theatrical distribution? I personally think the original Indonesian score is perfectly fine as is. I really, really hope for a Blu-ray release of 'The Raid' that's uncut and with the original music score and language track.

Todd Brown replied to comment from emacs, September 19, 2011 10:25 AM

The scoring decision was made before the Indonesian version was even complete, so it's not in any way reflective of the quality of the Indonesian score. It was a group decision - everyone is fully on board - when we realized that a US theatrical release was a strong possibility. That said, yes, we're trying to negotiate in to the deals that the Indonesian score will also be included on the DVD / BluRay release and there have been no requests to change the cut at all.

by ChevalierAguila, September 19, 2011 2:46 AM

As somebody who disliked Merantau i really want to see this one. Looks very promosing so far, i want so much non-stop action that i want to feel that i got my ass kicked while watching this.

by Ard Vijn, September 19, 2011 11:06 AM

Congrats Todd, now you are a successful Executive Producer!
Any chance of you guys (or at least "The Raid" itself) showing up in Rotterdam at the IFFR 2012? You can go straight on to Berlin after that!

Todd Brown replied to comment from Ard Vijn, September 19, 2011 1:46 PM

That'll be up to the local distributor. The film has sold pretty much everywhere so that's largely out of our hands now.

by Kurt Halfyard, September 19, 2011 3:26 PM

Hearty Congrats to Gareth and Iko and crew for their big win at TIFF this year. Here's hoping that it finds a mega-sized multiplex audience. I'm thinking it just might.

by Jpunk, September 21, 2011 6:18 AM

Congratz to All The Raid Cast dan Personel. I really proud as an Indonesian. Hopefully there will be more great movie like The raid.

Btw....I kind disappoint after hear that The raid going to remake. I don't care if it true or not but at least let The American watch the original version first in their wide screen. Please...please...please.

by Denny, September 21, 2011 9:29 PM

Congrats, Todd, or "Selamat!" as we say it here in Jakarta. This also goes to all who're involved in the making of The Raid. Especially to Gareth, Iko and Yayan. You guys fu**in' rule! Thumbs up!!!

by Ken, September 22, 2011 2:30 PM

The RAID was amazing.. definitely deserved to win the Midnight Madness award.

However, whoever put together this red band trailer needs to be FIRED. It's a terrible trailer that does nothing to show how awesome this movie is. If I hadn't seen the movie, this trailer would've put me off it entirely.. from the generic music to the emphasis on boring bits of gunplay, it actually makes this movie look boring, which is obviously completely wrong.

by brooklynewyork, September 24, 2011 5:29 PM

Movie looks great! I also shared the trailer with some of my buddies. Can't wait for the U.S release so we can go watch it in theaters! Thanks!

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