The Toronto International Film Festival will honor composer Hildur Guðnadóttir and writer-director Sally El Hosaini at this year’s TIFF Tribute Awards.
Guðnadóttir, who has received a BAFTA, Grammy and Emmy award for her score for HBO’s “Chernobyl” along with an Oscar for “Joker,” will receive TIFF’s Variety Artisan Award, the festival said Thursday. The composer’s most recent work will be heard by TIFF attendees in Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking,” a film about women in an isolated religious community discussing how to respond to the sexual abuse being committed by the men in charge.
El Hosaini will receive the Emerging Talent Award presented by MGM and will also premiere her new film “The Swimmers” at the festival’s opening night gala. The film follows a pair of Syrian sisters who escape their war-torn country for a new life in Europe and a chance to compete in the 2016 Olympics.
“Both Hildur Guðnadóttir and Sally El Hosaini are singular artists who continue to expand the horizons of their disciplines,” said TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey. “We’re proud to present TIFF Tribute Awards to Guðnadóttir for her remarkable score for Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, and El Hosaini for directing one of the most urgent, moving films of the year in ‘The Swimmers’.”
Other honorees at this year’s TIFF Tribute Awards include Tribute Award for Performance recipient Brendan Fraser, Director Award recipient Sam Mendes, and the ensemble cast of the LGBT romance film “My Policeman,” which includes Harry Styles, Linus Roache and Emma Corrin.