Actors Penélope Cruz, Isabelle Huppert and Rosalind Eleazar and filmmakers Lee Chang-dong and Siân Heder will be the recipients of awards at the TIFF Tribute Awards at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, organizers shared on Wednesday.
Cruz, who is coming to Toronto for Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s “La Bola Negra” and Florian Zeller’s “Bunker,” will receive the TIFF Special Tribute Award. Eleazar, who stars in Chris Rock’s “Misty Green,” and French icon Huppert, who’s coming to TIFF with “All About Corinne,” will receive TIFF Tribute Performer Awards.
“Burning” director Lee Chang-dong will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award as he brings “Possible Love” to Toronto; Heder, the “CODA” director whose new film, “Being Heumann,” will open the festival, will receive the TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media.
The TIFF Tribute Awards, in its eighth year, is the festival’s largest annual fundraiser. TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey called it “an event dedicated to the transformative power of film” in a statement, adding, “From the captivating performances of Isabelle Huppert, Penélope Cruz and Rosalind Eleazar to Lee Chang-dong and Siân Heder’s vital filmmaking, each has shown a profound impact on screen storytelling.”
The ceremony will take place on Sunday, Sept. 13 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto. The 2026 Toronto International Film Festival will open on Sept. 10 and close on Sept. 20.
TIFF will announce additional programming for the festival in early August.
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