Editor's note: This article first appeared on The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service. Subscribe to their newsletter. I'm not unique.

The TIFF People’s Choice Award is usually a bellwether to the Oscars, but this year the prize reflects rather more deep-seated global concerns among the voters than just the race to Best Picture.

I finally gave a Mother’s Day present to my grandmother. It’s been 99 years. It was time. This is a story of how an unspeakable sadness sometimes reconciles in ways that are difficult to plan ahead of ...