Toronto Film Fest Adds Tributes to Anthony Hopkins, Chloe Zhao, Mira Nair

The Toronto Film Festival has tapped Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins and directors Chloe Zhao and Mira Nair for tributes at its upcoming 20th edition.

The trio, whose latest movies will screen as part of the virtual Sept. 10 to 19 edition, join Kate Winslet as part of this year’s honorees for the 2020 TIFF Tribute Awards on Sept. 15. And after the coronavirus pandemic ended plans for a physical mass gathering, TIFF’s award season gala will instead go digital this year with at-home acceptance speeches and career retrospectives for the trophy winners.

The TIFF Tribute Awards will also air on in Canada on Bell Media’s CTV network as part of a one-hour broadcast, while streaming online. Toronto festival co-heads Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey and a still-to-be announced host of the TIFF Tribute Awards will be present at Bell Lightbox in Toronto, TIFF’s year-round home, during the broadcast, while the 2020 honorees and other Hollywood talent will be featured virtually. 

Hopkins, who played Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, stars in Florian Zeller’s The Father, which is set to screen in TIFF.

Zhao’s upcoming film, Nomadland, starring Frances McDormand and set for a release by Fox Searchlight, will also be part of TIFF’s lineup. And Nair’s BBC and Netflix limited series A Suitable Boy will close Toronto on Sept. 19.

Last year’s inaugural TIFF Tribute Awards gala, a key fund-raiser for the festival, handed out trophies to Meryl Streep, Taika Waititi, Mati Diop and Joaquin Phoenix. This year’s revamped TIFF Tribute Awards gala will be part of Toronto’s hybrid digital and in-person September event.

“In what has been a challenging year for our global filmmaking community, we’re delighted to partner with Bell Media to unite cinemagoers across Canada, and around the world, to share in our love of film and celebrate the industry’s leading talent,” Joana Vicente, TIFF executive director and co-head, said in a statement.

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