Fan Bingbing, Helen Mirren, Adam Pietkiewicz, Seth Rogen, and Bassam Tariq have been confirmed as the final honorees of this year’s TIFF Tribute Awards at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Academy Award–winning legend Helen Mirren will receive the TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award, presented by Joanna Griffiths and the Women of Knix; acclaimed cinematographer Adam Pietkiewicz will receive the TIFF Variety Artisan Award; beloved Canadian actor, writer, director, and producer Seth Rogen will be presented with the TIFF Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award, presented by The Budman Family; and award-winning filmmaker Bassam Tariq will receive the TIFF Rising Talent Award. An additional TIFF Special Tribute Award will be presented to global superstar Fan Bingbing.
They join previously announced recipients Penélope Cruz, Lee Chang-dong, Rosalind Eleazar, Siân Heder, and Isabelle Huppert.
“Helen Mirren and Fan Bingbing bring bold, compelling performances to this year’s Festival, building on iconic bodies of work,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO, TIFF. “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.”
The festival also announced the jury members who will decide the winners of the juried prizes. Festival audiences will once again cast their votes to determine the winners of the People’s Choice Awards.
The Best Canadian Discovery Award celebrates works of emerging filmmakers who contribute to enriching the Canadian film landscape. All Canadian first or second feature films in the Official Selection are eligible for this award. Last year’s winner was Sophy Romvari’s Blue Heron.
The jury members are: Justine Pimlott, a Peabody Award–winning producer; Sophy Romvari, a Canadian-Hungarian filmmaker based in Toronto known for her debut feature, Blue Heron; and Zarrar Kahn, a Canadian-Pakistani writer, director, and producer whose debut film In Flames (TIFF ’23) was Pakistan’s entry for the 2024 Academy Awards. Based in Toronto, his sophomore film, Suffering Is Optional, is slated for a 2028 release.
The Best Canadian Feature Film Award honours the unique craft and storytelling in Canadian cinema. All Canadian feature films in the Official Selection — excluding first or second features — will be considered for the award. Last year’s prize went to Zacharias Kunuk’s Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband).
The jury members are Christina Rogers, Director of Original Film at Netflix; Hubert Davis, one of Canada’s leading documentary directors; and Deepa Mehta, an Indo-Canadian Oscar-nominated filmmaker known for films including the Elemental Trilogy: Fire (TIFF ’96), Earth (TIFF ’98), and Water (TIFF ’05), an Oscar nominee for Best International Feature Film; Midnight’s Children (TIFF ’12); and Canadian Screen Award winner Funny Boy. Her most recent film, I Am Sirat, premiered at TIFF ’23.
The FIPRESCI Prize is presented by an international jury selected by the International Federation of Film Critics. The jury will award the Prize of International Critics, dedicated to emerging filmmakers, to a debut feature film having its World Premiere in TIFF’s Discovery programme. Last year’s FIPRESCI Prize went to Lucía Aleñar Iglesias’ Forastera. The jury members are Pragya Mishra, Cătălin Olaru, Savina Petkova (PhD), Enoe Lopes Pontes (PhD), and Victor Stiff.
Presented by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Pacific Cinema, the NETPAC Award recognizes films specifically from the Asia-Pacific region; the jury awards the prize to the best Asian film by a first- or second-time feature director. Last year’s award went to Jitank Singh Gurjar’s In Search of the Sky (Vimukt). The jury members are Mara Matta (Chairperson), Richard Fung, and Panagiotis Kotzathanasis.
TIFF’s Platform Prize jury members are Pablo Trapero (President), Amma Asante, Sylvia Chang, Luc Déry, and Albert Lee. The winning film will receive $20,000 CAD and, if it is a non‑English‑language film, will be eligible for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
The 2026 Short Cuts jurors are Joecar Hanna, Chris Lavis, and Iris Ng, who will determine the Short Cuts Awards for Best Animated Short Film, Best International Short Film, and Best Canadian Short Film.
The 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, runs September 10–20, 2026.
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