The TIFF Tribute Awards are an annual award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to honour distinguished achievements in filmmaking.[1] Unlike the festival's regular awards, which are presented based on audience or jury voting during the festival, the TIFF Tribute Awards are presented to people or organizations selected by the board and announced in advance of the festival. Recipients are selected from among the cast and crew of the films in that year's festival lineup.
The awards were presented for the first time at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.[2] They are organized in part as a fundraiser, with proceeds from audience ticket sales used to help fund various TIFF programs and initiatives.[3]
At both the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada the Tribute Awards were conducted as partially prerecorded television broadcasts rather than live gala ceremonies.[4] The presentations were broadcast by CTV Television Network, and hosted by Tyrone Edwards and Chloe Wilde of CTV's eTalk,[5] and also featured the announcement of the finalists and winners for the People's Choice Award. With the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival returning to in-person screenings, the 2022 Tribute Awards were not televised; with the 2022 ceremony scheduled for early in the festival run rather than the conclusion, it also did not include People's Choice announcements.
Awards are presented in five main categories: Actor, with two performers honoured each year; Director, honouring a film director; Artisan, honouring a craftsperson in a behind the scenes role such as cinematography, editing or sound; Emerging Talent, honouring a film director for their debut feature film; and the Impact Award, honouring a figure whose work has been dedicated to social change. A sixth award, the Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award, was introduced in 2022 for women who have made outstanding contributions to improving the conditions of other women in the film industry; actress Michelle Yeoh was the inaugural recipient.[6] An additional Special Tribute award may be presented at the TIFF board's discretion, to honour a person for distinguished achievements in other fields not covered by one of the main categories; both times that a Special Tribute award has been presented to date, it has been to a musician with significant film soundtrack credits who was the subject of a retrospective documentary film screening at that year's festival.
The Impact Award was presented in the inaugural year to the film studio Participant Media, with CEO Jeffrey Skoll accepting the award on the company's behalf; the company subsequently signed on as a direct sponsor of that award, which has since been known as the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media.
The 2022 awards marked the first time that one of the actor awards was presented to an ensemble cast instead of an individual performer.[7]
In 2023, TIFF introduced the Norman Jewison Award, a career achievement award presented to Canadians whose careers in entertainment have had a global impact.[8]
| Year | Award | Recipient | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Actor Award | Joaquin Phoenix for his work as an actor in the movie Joker | [2] |
| Meryl Streep for her work as an actress in the movie Little Women | |||
| Director Award | Taika Waititi for his movie Jojo Rabbit | ||
| Variety Artisan Award | Roger Deakins for his cinematography to the movie 1917 | ||
| Emerging Talent Award | Mati Diop for her movie Atlantics | ||
| Impact Award | Participant Media | ||
| Special Tribute | David Foster | ||
| 2020 | Actor Award | Anthony Hopkins for his work as an actor in the movie The Father | [9] |
| Kate Winslet for her work as an actress in the movie Ammonite | |||
| Director Award | Chloé Zhao for her movie Nomadland | ||
| Variety Artisan Award | Terence Blanchard for his score to the movie One Night in Miami | ||
| Emerging Talent Award | Tracey Deer for her movie Beans | ||
| Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media | Mira Nair | ||
| 2021 | Actor Award | Jessica Chastain for her work as an actress in the movie The Eyes of Tammy Faye | [10] |
| Benedict Cumberbatch for his work as an actor in the movies The Power of the Dog and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain | [11] | ||
| Director Award | Denis Villeneuve for his movie Dune | [12] | |
| Variety Artisan Award | Ari Wegner for her cinematography on the movies The Power of the Dog and Zola | [13] | |
| Emerging Talent Award | Danis Goulet for her movie Night Raiders | [14] | |
| Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media | Alanis Obomsawin | [12] | |
| Special Tribute | Dionne Warwick | [14] | |
| 2022 | Actor Award | Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, Gina McKee, Linus Roache, David Dawson and Rupert Everett
for their work as a cast on the movie My Policeman |
[7] |
| Brendan Fraser for his work as an actor on the movie The Whale | [15] | ||
| Director Award | Sam Mendes for his movie Empire of Light | [16] | |
| Variety Artisan Award | Hildur Guðnadóttir for her score to the movie Women Talking | [17] | |
| Emerging Talent Award | Sally El Hosaini for her movie The Swimmers | ||
| Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media | Buffy Sainte-Marie | [18] | |
| Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award | Michelle Yeoh | [19] | |
| 2023 | Norman Jewison Award | Shawn Levy | [8] |
| Performer Award | Colman Domingo | [20] | |
| Vicky Krieps | [21] | ||
| Director Award | Spike Lee | [22] | |
| Variety Artisan Award | Łukasz Żal | [23] | |
| Emerging Talent Award | Carolina Markowicz | [23] | |
| Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media | Pedro Almodóvar | [22] | |
| Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award | Patricia Arquette | [24] | |
| Special Tribute Award | Andy Lau | [23] |