"Angh" cinematographer Adam Pietkiewicz will receive the TIFF Variety Artisan Award
“Angh” cinematographer Adam Pietkiewicz will receive the TIFF Variety Artisan Award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
Also being honored are Helen Mirren, who will receive the TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award, presented by Joanna Griffiths. Seth Rogen will be presented with the TIFF Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award, presented by The Budman Family, and filmmaker Bassam Tariq will receive the TIFF Rising Talent Award. The TIFF Special Tribute Award will be presented to Fan Bingbing. As previously announced, Penélope Cruz, Lee Chang-dong, Rosalind Eleazar, Siân Heder and Isabelle Huppert will also be honored during the film festival.
Cameron Bailey, CEO of the festival said: “Helen Mirren and Fan Bingbing bring bold, compelling performances to this year’s Festival, building on iconic bodies of work.” He added, “Bassam Tariq’s ‘Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother’ will confirm his reputation as a dazzling storyteller, and we recognize Adam Pietkiewicz for crafting never-before-seen images from one of the world’s most remote regions. And we will be forever grateful to writer, actor, director and producer Seth Rogen for sharing his wildly Canadian talents with the world.”
Pietkiewicz makes his TIFF debut as the cinematographer of Theja Rio’s “Angh,” which is world premiering the festival’s competitive program. Shot entirely on 16mm, the film follows his feature debut on Krzysztof Skonieczny’s “Wrooklyn Zoo” (2024), for which he received a Golden Frog nomination at Camerimage.
The TIFF Variety Artisan Award recognizes a distinguished creative who has excelled at their craft and made an outstanding contribution to cinema and entertainment. Previous recipients of this award include Kazu Hiro, singers and songwriters Clément Ducol and Camille, cinematographer Łukasz Żal, composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, Ari Wegner, Terence Blanchard, and Roger Deakins.
The Tribute Awards is TIFF’s largest annual fundraiser, with proceeds supporting expanded access to cinema, artist development and industry initiatives.
The 51st Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 10-20. The fest has long served as a launchpad for Oscar-winning fare, particularly through the People’s Choice Award, past winners of which include “Chariots of Fire” (1981), “American Beauty” (1999), “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008) and “Green Book” (2018).