Mike Leigh to receive Toronto Film Festival Tribute award

Leigh had previously received seven Oscar nominations, the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and the Golden Lion at Venice

Writer-director Mike Leigh is all set to receive a Tribute Award at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival, as per The Hollywood Reporter. Leigh, who returns to the festival with the world premiere of Hard Truths, will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award on September 8, having previously brought films such as Another Year, Happy-Go-Lucky, and Mr. Turner to the Canadian festival.

Leigh had previously received seven Oscar nominations, the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and the Golden Lion at Venice. TIFF will also honour Canadian director Durga Chew-Bose with the TIFF Emerging Talent Award. The Chloe Sevigny-starring adaptation of Francoise Sagan's classic novel Bonjour Tristesse from Chew-Bose is set to open TIFF's Discovery program with a world premiere.

Camille Dalmais and Clement Ducol, a French songwriting and composing team, will receive the TIFF Artisan Award for their work on Jacques Audiard's Emilia Perez soundtrack. The proceeds from the Tribute Awards benefit the festival's TIFF Every Story Fund, which promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in filmmaking. Each year, the Fairmont Royal York Hotel hosts a gala dinner fundraiser for the festival's charity endeavours, which is also a precursor to Oscar recognition.

TIFF Tribute Award honorees tend to have films in Toronto's official lineup. Toronto already announced that Cate Blanchett would get the TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award, David Cronenberg will receive the Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award, and Amy Adams, an Oscar-nominated actress, will receive the TIFF Tribute Performer Award.

Past Tribute Awards honorees include Jessica Chastain, Roger Deakins, Colman Domingo, Brendan Fraser, Anthony Hopkins, Joaquin Phoenix, Taika Waititi, Michelle Yeoh and Chloe Zhao, according to The Hollywood Reporter.