TIFF 2023: Award Winners

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced its award recipients for the 48th edition of the Festival.

This year, the lineup of films did not disappoint jurors and audiences alike. Below are the list of award winners at this year’s festival.

SHORT CUTS AWARDS

Short Cuts Awards are for Best Film, Best Canadian Film, and the Share Her Journey Award for best film by a woman. The 2023 jurors for the Short Cuts Awards are Aisha Jamal, Araya Mengesha, and Shasha Nakhai.

Each winning film will receive a bursary of $10,000 CAD. The winners of the three awards are:

Short Cuts Award for Best Film: Electra, dir. Daria Kashcheeva

Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Film: Motherland, dir. Jasmin Mozaffari

Share Her Journey Award: Shé (Snake), dir. Renee Zhan

Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (NETPAC) AWARD

The 2023 NETPAC jury members include: Sung Moon, Haolun Shu, and Lalita Krishna. The NETPAC award was instituted to promote Asian cinema and to bring international attention to independent and non-mainstream films focusing on the discovery of new talent.

The jury has selected Jayant Digambar Somalkar’s A Match as this year’s NETPAC winner.

FIPRESCI PRIZE

The 2023 FIPRESCI jury members include: Cem Altinsaray, Elijah Baron, Jindřiška Bláhová, Diego Faraone, and Jenni Zylka. The jury announced Seagrass, dir. Meredith Hama-Brown, as this year’s FIPRESCI winner.

Seagrass is one of my favourites at this year’s festival and I am so glad to see it being recognized with this award.

AMPLIFY VOICES AWARDS PRESENTED BY CANADA GOOSE

This year, Canada Goose will again present the Amplify Voices Awards to under-represented filmmakers in Canada. Feature films in Official Selection by Canadian BIPOC filmmakers are eligible for the Best Feature and Best First Feature Award. The Amplify Voices Award will also celebrate a Canadian BIPOC trailblazer, recognizing a producer who has made significant contributions to the Canadian film landscape.

The three winners will receive a cash prize of $10,000 each, made possible by Canada Goose. The three Amplify Voices Awards presented by Canada Goose winners are:

Amplify Voices Award – Best BIPOC Canadian Feature: Kanaval, dir. Henri Pardo

Amplify Voices Award for Best BIPOC Canadian First Feature Award: Tautuktavuk (What We See), dirs. Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk

The 2023 Amplify Voices Trailblazer Award was presented to Damon D’Oliveira, producer (Brother, Rude, The Grizzlies, The Book of Negroes, and Wildhood).

BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM AWARD

The 2023 Best Canadian Feature jury members include: V.T. Nayani, Susan Maggi, and Ricardo Acosta. TIFF announced the 2023 Jury has selected Solo, dir. Sophie Dupuis as this year’s Best Canadian Feature Film.

Jury’s statement: “Sophie Dupuis’s Solo is a specifically intimate and deeply affecting film, full of palpable care and honesty… This coming-of-age narrative is ultimately a film about family, both blood and chosen, and the complications and beauties of both.”

CHANGEMAKER AWARD

The Changemaker Award is presented to a Festival film that explores issues relevant to young people and is focused on themes of social change and youth empowerment. The winning film comes with a $10,000 CAD prize, and is selected by TIFF’s Next Wave Committee, a group of young film lovers who recognize cinema’s power to transform the world.

The 2023 jurors for the Changemaker Award are members of TIFF’s Next Wave Committee: Maggie Kane, Linc Guo, Serena Hao, Roni Harel Haber, Ray Wu, Naiya Forrester, Maya Al-Arami, Sara Rana, Daniel Leplae, Tara Sidhu, Tafadzwa Mangwiro, and Elizabeth Albrecht.

The 2023 Changemaker Award is presented to We Grown Now, dir. Minhal Baig.

PLATFORM AWARD

The Platform Award is an award of $20,000 CAD given to the best film in the programme, selected by an in-person international jury. This year’s jury members are: Barry Jenkins, Nadine Labaki, and Anthony Shim.

The 2023 Platform Award is awarded to: Dear Jassi, dir. Tarsem Singh Dhandwar.

There is lots to appreciate in Dear Jassi and I hope many audiences get to see this film. The jury’s statement included the following: statement: “Dear Jassi was a unanimous choice for this year’s Platform Award for its honest and poignant portrayal of a subject matter that still affects large portions of individuals forced to live under the inhumanity of bitter caste systems throughout the globe.”

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

For the 47th year, the People’s Choice Awards distinguish the audience’s top title at the Festival as voted by the viewing public. All films in TIFF’s Official Selection were eligible.

The TIFF 2023 People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award winner is Dicks: The Musical dir. Larry Charles.

The TIFF 2023 People’s Choice Documentary Award winner is Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe dir. Robert McCallum.

The TIFF 2023 People’s Choice Award winner is: American Fiction dir. Cord Jefferson.