Toronto Film Festival Dailies

Third annual TIFF Tribute Awards airs on CTV Saturday, Sept. 18 at 7 pm/8atl
TIFF People’s Choice Award and Platform Prize winners to be announced LIVE during one-hour event on CTV and streamed to global audiences by Variety

Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey, Co-Heads of TIFF, announced today that six-time Grammy Award–winning music icon and activist Dionne Warwick will be honoured at the TIFF Tribute Awards with the Special Tribute Award, and that Night Raiders director and Saskatchewan-born Cree/Métis filmmaker Danis Goulet will receive this year’s TIFF Emerging Talent Award, presented by L’Oréal Paris and supported by MGM. The 2021 TIFF Tribute Awards air on Saturday, September 18 at 7 pm ET / 8 pm AT on CTV, CTV.ca and the CTV app to Canadian audiences, on the final day of the 46th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. The show will be streamed to global audiences by Variety. This year, TIFF’s People’s Choice Award and the Platform Jury Prize will be announced live during the broadcast event. 

Produced by Bell Media Studios, with ETALK’s Tyrone Edwards and Chloe Wilde returning as hosts, the one-hour TIFF Tribute Awards broadcast will feature this year’s celebration of TIFF Tribute honourees and yet to be announced presenters. This is the latest in a series of Awards announcements, with more exciting news to follow in the coming days.

The TIFF Emerging Talent Award, selected by TIFF and MGM, is presented in the spirit of Torontonian Mary Pickford, the groundbreaking actor, producer, and co-founder of United Artists whose impact continues today. Previous recipients of the Emerging Talent Award include Tracey Deer and Mati Diop. Special Tribute Awards are presented to artists who have exemplified greatness in their career and a level of excellence on the world stage. David Foster was recognized with the Special Tribute Award during the Awards’ inaugural event in 2019.

Dave Wooley and David Heilbroner's documentary Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over will have its World Premiere in the TIFF Docs programme, and Goulet’s Night Raiders will screen as a Gala Presentation for its North American premiere during the Festival. Don’t Make Me Over is an inspiring documentary portrait that chronicles the iconic singer’s fascinating six-decade career in both music and Black and LGBTQ activism. Night Raiders is set in a post-apocalyptic future, where the state removes children from their families and trains them to be soldiers at a boarding school. The film will be released in theatres across Canada this fall. 

“We are excited to be announcing a music industry icon, alongside an exceptional emerging talent,” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director and Co-Head, TIFF. “A legend in her own right, Dionne Warwick has been charting firsts her entire career, a six-decade hitmaker with boundless talent, and a tireless activist for LGBTQ+ rights, and Danis Goulet is a visionary filmmaker, using film as a powerful vehicle for Indigenous storytelling and social change.”

“We are thrilled to celebrate Dionne Warwick’s extraordinary career and contributions with the Special Tribute Award and feature her inspiring and incredible story in the TIFF World Premiere of her documentary Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over,” added Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director and Co-Head, TIFF. “As an alumna of TIFF, we’re proud of Danis Goulet’s work and her film Night Raiders that she wrote and directed, staying true to her authentic voice and her passion for storytelling. She has an exciting future ahead and is paving a path for a new generation of filmmakers.”

“Danis Goulet’s impressive feature directorial debut, Night Raiders, brings an exciting and thought-provoking point of view to the sci-fi genre,” said Michael De Luca, Chairman of MGM’s Motion Picture Group. “MGM is committed to championing new voices with unique perspectives, and we are thrilled to be able to celebrate such a talented up-and-coming filmmaker with this honour.”

For the first time, the highly anticipated winners of the TIFF People’s Choice Award and Platform Jury Prize will be announced live during the Tribute Awards broadcast on CTV. Now in its 44th year, the People’s Choice Award serves as a bellwether for the upcoming awards season, and has traditionally been announced by TIFF at noon on the closing day of the Festival. The People’s Choice Award for best feature and the Platform Prize winner will be announced at the end of the Tribute Awards show. All other audience- and jury-selected award winners will be announced via press release and social media at 8pm ET, following the broadcast. Last year, Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland was voted as the People’s Choice Award winner; in 2019, Pietro Marcello’s Martin Eden, an adaptation of the Jack London novel, was named prize winner of the Platform competition.

“For the second year, CTV is thrilled to partner with TIFF as the exclusive broadcaster of the 2021 TIFF Tribute Awards,” said Justin Stockman, Vice President, Content Development and Programming, Bell Media. “We’re building on last year’s broadcast by adding live elements and even more star power. We can’t wait for all Canadians to have a chance to experience this world-class event and the magic of TIFF from home.”

Warwick and Goulet join a list of recently announced TIFF honourees, including TIFF Actor Award recipient Benedict Cumberbatch, an Academy Award nominee, and his fellow actor-prize recipient, two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain; award-winning documentary filmmaker, writer, singer, and activist Alanis Obomsawin, who will be honoured with the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media supported by Participant Media; and Academy Award–nominated French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, who will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award at this year’s Awards.
 
The TIFF Tribute Awards honour the film industry’s outstanding contributors and their achievements, recognizing leading industry members, acting talent, directorial expertise, new talent, and a below-the-line artist and creator. The Awards also serve as TIFF’s largest annual fundraiser to support TIFF’s year-round programmes and core mission to transform the way people see the world through film. This year’s event will raise funds for TIFF’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiative and champion a safe, community-focused and inspiring return to cinemas. In 2020 the TIFF Tribute Awards celebrated the remarkable talents and contributions of Mira Nair, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet, Chloé Zhao, Terence Blanchard, and Tracey Deer, some of whom went on to win awards on the international stage — such as Zhao (Nomadland), Deer (Beans), and Hopkins (The Father). Meryl Streep, Taika Waititi, Mati Diop, Joaquin Phoenix, and Roger Deakins were celebrated during the Awards’ inaugural event in 2019. 

DIONNE WARWICK BIOGRAPHY

Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress, and former Goodwill Ambassador for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. She was one of the first artists to heighten public awareness of the AIDS epidemic. 
 
Warwick, along with her sister and cousin, formed The Gospelaires, and the gospel trio sang in local churches, college campuses, and African American theatres. In 1959, Warwick received a music scholarship to the University of Hartford in Connecticut. During a session with The Drifters, composer Burt Bacharach heard her unique voice. Warwick signed a recording contract in 1962 and her first single, “Don’t Make Me Over,” was a hit, attracting both R&B and pop audiences. From 1963 to 1966, she achieved unprecedented success by becoming the first crossover artist to have a dozen consecutive Top 100 hits.
 
In 1968, Warwick became the first African American solo female artist to receive a Grammy in the Pop category for “Do You Know the Way to San Jose.” By 1970, she had recorded 30 hit singles, close to 20 bestselling albums and received a second Grammy for the album I’ll Never Fall In Love Again. 
 
Warwick has recently joined Twitter and become a viral sensation among social media users for her candid and often sarcastic comments. Her life story has become the subject of a new documentary, Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, co-directed by Dave Wooley and David Heilbroner. Warwick continues to perform to sold-out audiences worldwide and works on many humanitarian causes. Her concerted efforts raised millions of dollars.

DANIS GOULET BIOGRAPHY

Danis Goulet is a Cree/Métis writer and director. Her films have screened at festivals around the world including Berlinale, Sundance, MoMA, and the Toronto International Film Festival. She is a former programmer for TIFF and a former director of the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. She is an alumna of the National Screen Institute and the TIFF Filmmakers lab. She serves on the Indigenous Advisory Group for TIFF and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her debut feature, Night Raiders, premiered in the Panorama section of the 2021 Berlinale and will be a Gala Presentation at TIFF 2021.Goulet also recently wrapped production on the Netflix thriller Ivy, starring Alice Braga. She is originally from La Ronge, Saskatchewan, and now lives in Toronto.

The Government of Canada opened its borders for non-essential travel from American citizens and permanent residents on August 9, 2021 and plans to open to citizens of any country on September 7, 2021, provided that the domestic epidemiologic situation remains favourable, and that visitors have been fully vaccinated with Government of Canada–approved vaccines (Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Janssen/Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD) at least 14 days prior to entering Canada. Those meeting these requirements can travel to Canada without having to quarantine, including the elimination of the three-night hotel quarantine policy. As of August 22, 73.7% of Canada’s eligible population is fully vaccinated, one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. Toronto boasts one of the highest percentages of fully vaccinated citizens in North America with 74.9% of the eligible population completed as of the same date.

As a result of the opening of the border and increased capacities in cinemas in Ontario, TIFF has added to its list of venues to accommodate a number of additional in-person Public and Press & Industry screenings. TIFF Festival venues include: TIFF Bell Lightbox and marquee venues the Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre and Roy Thomson Hall, Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, and the Cinesphere IMAX Theatre at Ontario Place, plus outdoor screening venues at Ontario Place Festival Village, including the Visa Skyline Drive-In, the RBC Lakeside Drive-In, and the West Island Open Air Cinema. Press & Industry screenings will be held at the Scotiabank Theatre Toronto and TIFF Bell Lightbox. Public in-person screenings will have limited press and industry access.

Beginning on September 9, 2021, Festival staff, audience members and visitors entering TIFF Festival venues from September 9 to 18 will be required to show either proof they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or proof that they have tested negative for COVID-19 within 48 hours prior to entering any TIFF venue. This protocol does not extend to the Visa Skyline Drive-In and RBC Lakeside Drive-In at Ontario Place where audiences will be in their cars. Previously announced COVID safety measures and detailed protocols and procedures for Public, Talent, Studios, Stakeholders and other TIFF attendees can be found at tiff.net/covid-19.

Additionally, digital Public screenings will be programmed on digital TIFF Bell Lightbox for the accessibility of Festival-goers but are limited to Canadian audiences. The TIFF Digital Cinema Pro platform will host digital Press & Industry screenings, as well as the TIFF Industry Selects market for industry buyers. Films available to press and industry on TIFF Digital Cinema Pro will be accessible to delegates worldwide; however, some exceptions may occur where the film rights holders have not authorized an online screening in selected regions. The TIFF Bell Digital Talks platform will host a variety of Public and Press & Industry talks, including the In Conversation With… talks series, the Industry Conference, and Press Conferences.

TIFF continues to work closely with the Province of Ontario, the City of Toronto, and public health officials on the safe execution of the Festival, with its number-one priority being the health and well-being of both Festival filmgoers and residents of the community. To help ensure the safest possible experience, TIFF has once again partnered with Medcan, a global health care leader providing medical expertise, consultation, and health inspiration to achieve its mission to help people “Live Well, For Life.” Based on the pillars of evidence-based care, exceptional client service, and the latest in technology, Medcan’s team of over 90 physicians supports employee health care across the continuum of health, including its “Safe at Work System,” which helps organizations navigate the pandemic.

Please visit tiff.net for more information. 

For TIFF Tribute Awards support opportunities, please contact development@tiff.net.

Images are available at tiff.net/press. 

The 46th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 9–18, 2021.

TIFF prefers Visa.