The TIFF Tribute Awards, originally introduced in 2019 to honour actors and filmmakers for distinguished achievements over the course of their careers, unveiled this year’s winners in a televised ceremony on 18^th September.

The first two honorees announced were Alanis Obomsawin as the recipient of the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media and Denis Villeneuve as the winner of the Ebert Director Award. Villeneuve’s adaptation of science fiction classic Dune was showcased at the festival but ineligible for competing for the main People’s choice award on technical grounds,

Jessica Chastain and Benedict Cumberbatch were subsequently announced as the recipients of the Actor Awards. Cumberbatch also had both The Power Of The Dog and The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain featured in this year’s festival line up. With The Power of The Dog in particular earning considerable early awards buzz for the British star.

Dionne Warwick received the special tribute award, filmmaker Danis Goulet was named the recipient of the Emerging Talent Award and cinematographer Ari Wegner received the Variety Artisan Award

The festival also separately held the annual People’s Choice Awards via public voting, with Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast securing the top prize at this year’s festival.