Toronto film critics honour Cardinal
Tantoo Cardinal, the prolific Canadian film, TV and stage actor, is the winner of the 2018 Technicolor Clyde Gilmour Award bestowed by members of the Toronto Film Critics Association.
The Gilmour prize is given annually to a member of the Canadian movie industry who has made a “substantial and outstanding contribution” to the country’s cinema. It’s the first time in the TFCA’s 21-year history that the prize has gone to an actor. Previous recipients have included directors Zacharias Kunuk, Deepa Mehta and Alanis Obomsawin, as well as outgoing TIFF director/CEO Piers Handling.
“I am most honoured to be receiving this recognition — and from film critics!” Cardinal said. “It’s very exciting.”
The prize, sponsored by Technicolor Creative Services, enables the winner to give $50,000 in services to a filmmaker of their choosing. Cardinal will announce her designate in the days to come.
Alberta-born Cardinal is in three upcoming films: The Grizzlies, Through Black Spruce and Falls Around Her, all of which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Falls Around Her, in which she plays a worldfamous Anishinaabe musician struggling to readapt to the quieter life of her First Nation reserve, represents Cardinal’s first lead role in her 48-year career.
Cardinal has had many roles in Canadian and international films, including Dances With Wolves, Black Robe and Smoke Signals, and in TV series North of 60.