Icelandic composer Hildur Gudnadóttir and Welsh-Egyptian writer/director Sally El Hosaini have been tapped to receive special honors at the Toronto International Film Festival’s fourth annual TIFF Tribute Awards, TIFF announced on Thursday.
The TIFF Tribute Awards, a gala fundraiser for TIFF’s diversity and inclusion efforts, will take place Sept. 11 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
Guðnadóttir, who in 2019 won both an Emmy (for her score for the limited series Chernobyl) and an Oscar (for her score for the film Joker), and who most recently scored Sarah Polley‘s highly anticipated UAR film Women Talking, which will have its international premiere at the fest on Sept. 13, will be presented with the event’s Artisan Award, which recognizes “a distinguished creative who has excelled at their craft and made an outstanding contribution to cinema and entertainment.” Its previous recipients: Ari Wegner in 2021; Terence Blanchard in 2020; and Roger Deakins in 2019.
El Hosaini, meanwhile, who will unveil her highest profile film yet, The Swimmers, as the fest’s opening night gala presentation on Sept. 8, will receive the Emerging Talent Award, which is “presented in the spirit of Torontonian Mary Pickford, the groundbreaking actor, producer and co-founder of United Artists, whose impact continues today.” Its previous recipients: Danis Goulet in 2021; Tracey Deer in 2020; and Mati Diop in 2019.
“Both Hildur Gudnadóttir and Sally El Hosaini are singular artists who continue to expand the horizons of their disciplines,” TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said in a statement. “We’re proud to present TIFF Tribute Awards to Gudnadóttir for her remarkable score for Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, and El Hosaini for directing one of the most urgent, moving films of the year in The Swimmers.”
Others set to receive honors at the TIFF Tribute Awards include Brendan Fraser, Sam Mendes and the cast of My Policeman, led by Harry Styles.
