A night full of stars
The Toronto Film Critics awards celebrate cinema’s best
In Januar y, Canadian thespians hit the ground running as awards season was kicked of in grand Hollywood North style. The Carlu played host to the 21st annual Toronto Film Critics Association awards with a champagne-fuelled bash.
With the entertainment industry on edge, there was much to talk about with TIFF Artistic Director Cameron Bailey, who played the role of host. He kicked off this year’s Awards on a sober note with a tribute to the # TimesUp movement that has swept through the entertainment industry. “I’m sorry I don’t
have more jokes for you,” said Bailey. “We can all help lead toward change because, as brilliant as they are, Oprah and Sarah Polley are not going to save us. We are going to have to save us.”
Once the awards presentation began, the magnums of Moet started flowing too. The 2017 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award went to Ashley McKenzie for Werewolf along with a cheque for $ 100,000 from Rogers, the richest annual film prize in Canada. In thanking Rogers and the TFCA, McKenzie said: “You’re literally changing lives. That fills my heart up.” McKenzie is one to watch as she won the the Stella Artois Jay Scott Award for emerging artist last year. Sofia Bohdanowicz, director of Maison de Bonheur and Never Eat Alone, took the award home this year.
Several winners who were not able to attend the presentation in person sent messages of thanks via video link, including photographer JR and filmmaker Agnès Varda, co- directors of Faces Places, which won the Maison Birks Allan King Documentary Award. Greta Gerwig, who won Best Director for Lady Bird, and Ruben Östlund, who won Best Foreign Language Film for directing The Square, also sent their messages of gratitude.
And what is a party without a little swag? Each guest left with a personally engraved Stella Artois beer chalice.