Dionne Warwick and Danis Goulet will join Jessica Chastain and Alanis Obomsawin at the 2021 TIFF Tribute Awards. The former two are the latest to be named as honorees by Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). According to a press release, Warwick will be presented with the Special Tribute Award and Goulet will receive the TIFF Emerging Talent Award.
“We are excited to be announcing a music industry icon, alongside an exceptional emerging talent,” said Joana Vicente, TIFF’s Executive Director and Co-Head. “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.”
“Special Tribute Awards are presented to artists who have exemplified greatness in their career and a level of excellence on the world stage,” the press release reveals. Warwick, a six-time Grammy-winning artist and activist, is the subject of “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over,” a doc set to make its world premiere at TIFF 2021.
The TIFF Emerging Talent Award is “presented in the spirit of Torontonian Mary Pickford, the groundbreaking actor, producer, and co-founder of United Artists whose impact continues today.” “Night Raiders,” Goulet’s feature directorial debut, will make its North American debut at TIFF as a Gala Presentation. The film, a dystopian sci-fi tale that sees an Indigenous mother fighting to free her daughter from a state-run institution, previously screened at the Berlinale and will have a theatrical release in Canada this fall.
Tracey Deer (“Beans”) and Mati Diop (“Atlantics”) are among the previous Emerging Talent Award honorees.
The TIFF Tribute Awards will be held September 18, and will air on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. Variety will also be streaming the ceremony globally. As previously announced, Chastain will receive the TIFF Tribute Actor Award, and Obomsawin will be honored with the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media as well as a special Cinematheque retrospective entitled Celebrating Alanis.
TIFF will take place September 9-18.
