Two-time Academy Award–nominated actor Jessica Chastain has been named the recipient of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Actor Award. The 2021 TIFF Tribute Awards will take place during the 46th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival.
“Jessica has brought to life such strong and inspiring roles for women, from the films that have screened at TIFF such as The Debt, Take Shelter, The Martian, Crimson Peak, and Molly’s Game to the upcoming world premiere of The Eyes of Tammy Faye at the Festival–she is one of the most respected actors of her generation,” said Joana Vicente, executive director and co-head, TIFF. “Her recent portrayal of Tammy Faye Bakker is a testament to her exceptional onscreen presence and talent.”
The Eyes of Tammy Faye is an intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. In the 1970s and ’80s, Tammy Faye and her husband, Jim Bakker, rose from humble beginnings to create the world’s largest religious broadcasting network and theme park, and were revered for their message of love, acceptance and prosperity. Tammy Faye was legendary for her indelible eyelashes, her idiosyncratic singing, and her eagerness to embrace people from all walks of life. However, it wasn’t long before financial improprieties, scheming rivals, and scandal toppled their carefully constructed empire.
Previous recipients of the TIFF Tribute Actor Award include Meryl Streep, Joaquin Phoenix, Kate Winslet, and Sir Anthony Hopkins. TIFF recently announced that award-winning documentary filmmaker, writer, singer, and activist Alanis Obomsawin will be honored with the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media, and Academy Award–nominated French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award at this year’s Awards. Additional TIFF Tribute Award recipients will be announced in the coming weeks.
The TIFF Tribute Awards honor the film industry’s outstanding contributors and their achievements, recognizing leading industry members, acting talent, directorial expertise, new talent, and a below-the-line artist and creator. The Awards also serve as TIFF’s largest annual fundraiser to support TIFF’s year-round programs and core mission to transform the way people see the world through film. This year’s event will raise funds for TIFF’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiative and champion a safe, community-focused and inspiring return to cinemas. The 2021 TIFF Tribute Awards will be co-produced by Bell Media Studios and, for the second straight year, will be broadcast nationally by CTV and streamed internationally by Variety.
In 2020 the TIFF Tribute Awards celebrated the remarkable talents and contributions of Mira Nair, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet, Chloé Zhao, Terence Blanchard, and Tracey Deer, some of whom went on to win awards on the international stage–such as Zhao (Nomadland), Deer (Beans), and Hopkins (The Father). Meryl Streep, Taika Waititi, Mati Diop, Joaquin Phoenix, and Roger Deakins were celebrated during the Awards’ inaugural event in 2019.
