Patricia Arquette, Spike Lee and Pedro Almodovar to be toasted at TIFF Tribute Awards

Actress Patricia Arquette and filmmakers Spike Lee and Pedro Almodovar are among the names being honoured at tonight’s TIFF Tribute Awards.

The annual gala fundraiser, held as part of the Toronto International Film Festival, has selected the three Oscar winners to be among the filmmakers it celebrates during an evening that’s likely to be short on star power as the dual Hollywood writers and actors strikes drag on.

Arquette will receive the TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award for her decades-long screen career that includes a supporting actress Oscar win for “Boyhood.” She’s at the film festival with her feature directorial debut “Gonzo Girl.”

Lee has been selected for the Ebert Director Award, which celebrates his influence, including his groundbreaking 1989 film “Do the Right Thing” and 2019’s “BlacKkKlansman,” which won him the Academy Award for adapted screenplay.

Almodovar will receive the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media, which recognizes leadership in uniting social impact and cinema. He directed the Oscar-winning “All About My Mother,” and presents his new short film “Strange Way of Life” at this year’s festival.

Other honourees include “Free Guy” director Shawn Levy who gets the Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award and “Fear the Walking Dead” actor Colman Domingo and “Phantom Thread” actress Vicky Krieps who both receive this year’s performer awards.

The TIFF Tribute Awards are being held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel with proceeds supporting the Viola Desmond Cinema campaign to rename the main cinema at TIFF’s headquarters after the civil rights pioneer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2023.