TORONTO — Oscar-winning filmmakers Spike Lee and Pedro Almodóvar are set to receive Tribute Awards at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.
The announcement came on the same day TIFF unveiled their Midnight Madness and Discovery lineups, forging ahead with the festival despite a cloud of uncertainty due to the dual Hollywood writers and actors strike.
Lee, who is known for his body of work exploring the African-American experience, has been selected for the Ebert Director Award for exemplifying greatness in his career.
Renowned for his storytelling that scrutinizes systemic racism in films including "Do the Right Thing," "Malcolm X," and "Jungle Fever," Lee received an honorary Oscar in 2016. However, he decided not to participate in the ceremony due to the significant lack of diversity among the nominees.
He later also received a best adapted screenplay Oscar for "BlacKkKlansman."
Meanwhile, Spain's Almodóvar, who is behind provocative films such as the Oscar-winning "All About My Mother," will be recognized with the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media, which recognizes leadership in uniting social impact and cinema.
The self-taught filmmaker created genre-defining works that blend melodrama, camp, and humour to explore themes of identity, desire, and transgressions. He also has a best original screenplay statue for writing "Talk to Her."
Almodóvar's latest feature, "Strange Way of Life," is a 31-minute Western starring Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke as cowboys and former lovers.
Launched in 2019, the Tribute Awards celebrate the film industry’s “outstanding contributors” and raise funds for TIFF’s year-round programs.
On the programming front, TIFF's Midnight Madness will open with “Dicks: The Musical” from "Borat" director Larry Charles while Elliot Page's cheerleading film "Backspot" snagged a spot in the Discovery lineup.
“Dicks,” an A24 production centers on a pair of identical twins who conspire to reunite their divorced and deranged parents, played by Nathan Lane and Megan Mullally.
The remaining late-night schedule, known for genre and offbeat comedies, includes Harmony Korine's "Aggro Dr1ft" and the U.S./Canada slasher-comedy "Hell of a Summer" directed and written by Canadian "Stranger Things" star Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk.
Patricia Arquette opens the Discovery program for emerging voices with her directorial debut, "Gonzo Girl," while Page executive produces the queer cheerleading story "Backspot," directed by D.W. Waterson.
"Backspot" follows a driven teenager played by Canadian actress Devery Jacobs who struggles with the pressures that exist in a Toronto Cheer Squad.
Joining the Canadian selections are M. H. Murray's "I Don’t Know Who You Are,” about a Toronto musician who trying to find the money for HIV-preventive treatment; Meredith Hama-Brown's debut feature "Seagrass,” centres on a week at a couples’ therapy retreat.
The Canadian Inuktitut-language drama "Tautuktavuk (What We See)," directed by Carol Kunnuk will also screen as a part of the program, along with Lucy Tulugarjuk, and Fawzia Mirza's coming-of-age English/Urdu feature "The Queen of My Dreams."
This year's Discovery program includes 13 female filmmakers, constituting half of the total lineup.
TIFF runs from Sept. 7 to 17.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2023.
The Canadian Press
