Two honorees have been added to the TIFF Tribute Awards at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival: American award-winning actor and rapper Jharrel Jerome will receive the TIFF Tribute Performer Award; and award-winning actor Zhao Tao will be presented with the TIFF Special Tribute Award. Honoring the film industry’s outstanding contributors and their achievements, the TIFF Tribute Awards gala will take place on Sunday, September 8, at Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
“From Moonlight to Unstoppable, Jharrel Jerome’s depth, strength, and vulnerability on screen have made him one of his generation’s finest actors. It’s an honor to recognize his outstanding body of work with the TIFF Tribute Performer Award,” said TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey. “In her collaborations with director Jia Zhang-Ke, the TIFF Special Tribute honoree Zhao Tao has captured the complexity and significance of China’s galvanizing change. Hers is a signature face of our 21st century, and her work in Caught by the Tides stands with her very best.”
Following his unforgettable performances in When They See Us and Moonlight (TIFF ’16), Jerome returns to the Festival for the world premiere presentation of William Goldenberg’s Unstoppable: The Anthony Robles Story, delivering yet another outstanding, heartfelt performance portraying wrestler Anthony Robles. Past recipients of the TIFF Tribute Performer Award are Colman Domingo and Vicky Krieps in 2023; Brendan Fraser and the ensemble cast of My Policeman in 2022; Jessica Chastain and Benedict Cumberbatch in 2021; Kate Winslet and Sir Anthony Hopkins in 2020; and Meryl Streep and Joaquin Phoenix in 2019.
Tao has captivated audiences worldwide. She was ranked eighth among the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century by The New York Times in 2020. Her collaborations with director Jia Zhang-Ke have produced iconic films such as Still Life and Mountains May Depart (TIFF ’15). She returns to the Festival for the North American premiere of Caught by the Tides, where she takes center stage in a powerful performance as Qiaoqiao. Previous recipients of the Special Tribute Award include Andy Lau in 2023, Dionne Warwick in 2021, and David Foster in 2019.
Jerome and Tao join the previously announced list of TIFF Tribute honorees: Amy Adams, Cate Blanchett, David Cronenberg, Mike Leigh, Durga Chew-Bose, Clément Ducol, and Camille. Sandra Oh serves as this year’s inaugural honorary chair. The Tribute Awards gala is TIFF’s largest fundraiser, with proceeds from the gala going towards TIFF’s Every Story Fund, which champions diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in film.
Jharrel Jerome
Jerome has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most recognized and praised talents following his breakout role in the Academy Award–winning film Moonlight. He starred as the lead in Ava DuVernay’s Netflix series When They See Us, winning the 2019 Emmy for Lead Actor in a Miniseries, the 2020 Critics’ Choice Award, and the 2020 NAACP Image Award, as well as receiving a SAG Award nomination. This year, Jerome starred in the Prime Video series I’m a Virgo, winning a Critics Choice Super Award and earning a Film Independent Spirit Award nomination. He also appeared in MAX’s series Full Circle, garnering another NAACP Image Award nomination.
Jerome will next star in the Amazon MGM Studios biopic Unstoppable, directed by William Goldenberg, portraying wrestler Anthony Robles. The film, featuring Jennifer Lopez and Don Cheadle, will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2024. Jerome also had roles in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and HBO’s adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. Jerome starred in all three seasons of Mr. Mercedes and appeared in BET’s Tales and ABC’s holiday special Live in Front of a Studio Audience. As a rapper and hip-hop artist, Jerome released his debut project “Someone I’m Not” in 2022.
Other film credits include Selah and the Spades, Monster, Concrete Cowboy, and First Match. Raised in the Bronx and a LaGuardia Arts High School graduate, Jerome splits his time between New York City and Los Angeles.
Zhao Tao
After graduating from Beijing Dance Academy, Tao started her acting career in Platform (2000), directed by Jia Zhang-Ke–the film that inspired TIFF’s Platform program. Her major collaborations as an actor with Jia Zhang-Ke include Caught by the Tides (2024), Ash Is Purest White (2018), Mountains May Depart (2015), A Touch of Sin (2013), Still Life (2006), The World (2004), and Unknown Pleasures (2002). Still Life was awarded the Golden Lion at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival. In 2012, she won the David di Donatello Award for her performance in Shun Li and the Poet, directed by Andrea Segre. In 2010, she worked with director Isaac Julien for the film Ten Thousand Waves. Her major works as producer include Useless (2007) and Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (2020).
The 49th Toronto International Film Festival takes place September 5–15.
