On Monday night, cinema royalty gathered at the Fairmont Royal York for the TIFF Tribute Awards, presented by Rolex. Chaired by previous Tribute honouree Brendan Fraser, the evening recognized homegrown hero Catherine O’Hara, Toronto hypeman Guillermo del Toro, everybody’s celebrity crush Idris Elba and many more. Here, a look at what went down.
Honorary chair Brendan Fraser spoke about how delighted he was to host the North American premiere of The Whale at TIFF back in 2022. Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images National treasure Catherine O’Hara received the Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award, presented by the Budman Family. On stage, she joked about “trying to weasel her way in” to TIFF parties 50 years ago. Photo by George Pimentel Idris Elba, recipient of the Tribute Award in Impact Media, thanked his family and gave a shout-out to his Canadian wife. “I love Canada,” he said. Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images Jodie Foster—who received the Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award, presented by Joanna Griffiths and the Women of Knix—spoke about her enduring love of movies (and “dancing like an idiot” at wrap parties) 60 years into her career. Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images Mexican director Guillermo del Toro accepted the Ebert Director Award, presented by the Tory Family. After he joked about Canadians’ fervour around traffic and hockey, he called his adopted country a “bastion of hope in the world right now” and praised Toronto’s excellence. Photo by George PimentelRoofman star Channing Tatum was honoured with the Tribute Performer Award, presented by Cineplex. Tearing up, he thanked his mother and his sister, who joined him at the celebration. Photo by George Pimentel Actor Lee Byung-hun received the Special Tribute Award, saying he was humbly accepting it “on behalf of the achievements and growth of Korean culture throughout the world.” Photo by George Pimentel Jafar Panahi, director of It Was Just an Accident, was also the recipient of a Special Tribute Award. Photo by George Pimentel Filmmaker Hikari accepted the Emerging Talent Award, presented by Amazon MGM Studios. Photo by George Pimentel Trailblazing director and producer Zacharias Kunuk, who was honoured with a Special Tribute Award, thanked the crowd in English and Inuktitut. Photo by George Pimentel
