TIFF 2022: Jury Prize announces winners list
The 2022 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival concluded on September 18th, followed by the release of award-winning films in multiple categories.
The International Film Critics Award, better known as the FIPRESCI Prize, is awarded at major film festivals around the world, to films in any category. The jury must consist of film critics who are FIPRESCI members, and no two jury members may be from the same country – presumably to avoid bias in voting. As a nod from a panel of professional critics, it is a particularly coveted award.
This year at TIFF, the FIPRESCI Prize went to director/screenwriter Basil Khalil’s drama, A Gaza Weekend. The jury released a statement praising the film “for its empathy and intelligence in capturing the zeitgeist, and with its daring approach to contemporary satire and world cinema”.
A Gaza Weekend is a political comedy, a UK/Palestine collaboration, dealing with a wealthy couple trying to escape from lockdown during the outbreak of a fictional epidemic in Israel (the script was written prior to the COVID outbreak). Basil Khalil has directed four documentaries and was nominated for an Oscar for a previous short film; A Gaza Weekend is his first feature film.
The Platform Prize goes to film directors with the aim of honouring particularly bold or unique directorial vision. Past recipients include Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth, and Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal. This year’s Platform Prize was awarded, by unanimous choice, to director Anthony Shim for Riceboy Sleeps, a touching family drama that follows a South Korean mother and young son as they adapt to a new life as immigrants to Canada. The jury praised Shim’s film for its “deeply moving story and precisely observed characters,” saying it “balances social realism with pure poetry. Plus, it’s very funny.”
The annual Changemaker Award, presented by the Shawn Mended Foundation, is awarded to a film that deals with issues of social change and includes a $10,000 cash prize. The 2022 award was presented to Luis De Filippis’ trans-related family drama, Something You Said Last Night, involving an uncomfortable vacation of two adult sisters and their parents, described by the voting committee as “honest, immersive, and intensely relatable.” The film had its world premiere at TIFF September 10th.
The Amplify Voices Award is dedicated to supporting diversity in film. This year’s award went to feature films by under-represented filmmakers, along with a cash prize for each. The winners:
- While We Watched, director Vinay Shukla, a documentary following the struggles of a minor news network in India. The jury’s statement called it “a wake-up call to how perilous and fragile the relationship between a free press and democracy is everywhere.”
- Leonor Will Never Die, director Martika Ramirez Escobar
- Viking, director Stéphane Lafleur
- To Kill A Tiger, director Nisha Pahuja
Finally, the People’s Choice Award, selected by the viewing public through an online vote, went to Steven Spielberg’s movie-related post-WWII drama, The Fabelmans. The runner-up was Sarah Polley’s Women Talking.
The People’s Choice in the documentary category was awarded to sports documentary Black Ice, director Hubert Davis. Runner-up was Stephanie Johnes’ Maya and the Wave.
The award in the TIFF Midnight Madness category went to Eric Appel’s spoof biography, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. The runner-up was Ti West’s horror film, Pearl.
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