Actor Dwayne Johnson and producer Scott Stuber at the TIFF Tribute Awards.George Pimentel/The Globe and Mail
The Toronto International Film Festival’s marquee event, the TIFF Tribute Awards, took place on the evening of September 7 in the ballroom of the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. The seventh annual edition of the celebrity-filled gala, presented in partnership with Rolex, was an opportunity for the festival to honour established and emerging filmmakers and to raise funds for its numerous initiatives. These include programming for the TIFF Lightbox and upcoming venture TIFF: The Market, which will connect collaborators in the screen industry.
Academy Award–winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro received the TIFF Ebert Director Award. During his acceptance speech, he referred to Canada, where he often works and maintains a second home, as “a bastion of hope in the world right now.” Later, two-time Academy Award–winning actor and filmmaker Jodie Foster, in town for Rebecca Zlotowski’s feature film A Private Life, received the TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award in recognition of her prolific career and support of women filmmakers.
Actor Idris Elba, who received the TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media, spoke, as many others did, to the “bittersweet moment” of accepting an award when the world is “feeling at its crisis point”. The actor, who is at the festival to present his directorial debut, the short film Dust to Dreams starring Seal, went on to say that he was using the opportunity to “remind ourselves to make an impact in our lives and in this world.”
Also honoured throughout the evening were actors Nina Hoss and Channing Tatum (each recipients of the TIFF Tribute Performer Award), Canadian comedy legend Catherine O’Hara (TIFF Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award) and director Hikari (TIFF Tribute Emerging Talent Award). South Korean actor Lee Byung Hun and Iranian director Jafar Panahi each accepted TIFF Special Tribute Awards for their work.
Actors, directors and other industry figures were in attendance to show their support, including: Brendan Fraser, who served as the gala’s honourary chair; actor Eugene Levy, who presented O’Hara with her award; philanthropist and TIFF board member Anne-Marie Canning; TIFF board chair Jeffrey Remedios; actors Tessa Thompson, Dwayne Johnson, Kirsten Dunst and Oscar Isaac; TIFF supporter and Roots co-founder Michael Budman and his wife, Diane Bald; and, of course, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey.
