Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game wins top prize in Toronto

The Imitation Game, a biopic about British mathematician and second world war codebreaker Alan Turing, has won the top prize at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The film, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing, took the Groslch People's Choice award for best film on Sunday in the 39th year of the festival.

Accepting the award on behalf of director Morten Tyldum, Elevation Pictures' Noah Segal said simply: "Yummy, delicious" - a reference to an audience member who had declared the same about Cumberbatch during a question-and-answer session following the film's screening during the festival.

"It was unnerving, but true," Segal said.

The award, which is chosen by audience members and has in the past gone to Oscar best picture winners such as Slumdog Millionaire and last year's 12 Years a Slave, will likely ramp up the buzz around the film.

In the movie, Turing is the brilliant mathematician who breaks the Germans' Enigma code, helping to bring the war to an end. He took his own life at 41 after he was convicted for being a homosexual.

Cumberbatch, one of the most sought-after actors in film and television, gave an immediate "yes" to playing Turing, he said last week.