The top 5 award winning films to see at TIFF 2016

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Sometimes it's nice to fill your TIFF schedule with films that come pre-vetted and arrive at the festival already crowned and celebrated as exceptional stories. Not only are they often excellent works of art, but sometimes it's fun to be able to weigh in on whether all the buzz was merited or just overblown hype.

Either way, here are the top five already award-winning films you can see at TIFF 2016.

The Birth of a Nation
Nate Parker's directorial debut about a slave in 1831 who led a rebellion against a plantation won not just the top U.S. Grand Jury Prize, but also the Audience Award, at the Sundance Film Festival. If the buzz is to be believed, it won't be the last awards it'll pick up in the coming months.

I, Daniel Blake
The Cannes Film Festival really, really likes Ken Loach, handing a second film of his the Palme d'Or. This one is about a sick carpenter who loses financial support from the government because he can no longer work before he fights to get it back.

Fire at Sea
The winner of the Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival, this observational documentary offers us a glimpse at the migrant crisis occurring in Europe as thousands of refugees try to find safety and freedom in new homes.

It's Only the End of the World
Only two years after Mommy won the Jury Prize at Cannes, Quebecois wunderkind Xavier Dolan won the Grand Prix award this year the festival in France. This time for his dysfunctional family drama starring Marion Cotillard and Vincent Cassel) about a young author who returns home for the first time in 12 years to try to tell his family he is dying.

Godless
This Bulgarian film about a physiotherapist who is struggling to live her life in a poor town until she meets a patient who inspires hope in her again is a double winner. Not only did it win the top prize at the Locarno Film Festival, it also won Best Actress for Irena Ivanova.