Reviews include Irena’s Vow, The Beast, and Before I Change My Mind.
Piers Handling – Recipient, 2014 Technicolor Clyde Gilmour Award
November 27, 2014
The Toronto Film Critics Association is pleased to announce that Piers Handling, Chief Executive Officer and Director of TIFF, is the recipient of this year’s Technicolor Clyde Gilmour Award.
The TFCA thanks Technicolor Creative Services for enabling the Technicolor Clyde Gilmour Award recipient to give $50,000 in services to a filmmaker of their choosing. Handling will announce his designate in the days to come.
“It is an immense honour to receive this award, named in memory of a true champion of cinema, Clyde Gilmour,” said Handling. “Toronto’s film critics have contributed so much to the success of our organization over the years. Their championing of Canadian and international cinema has helped us create a space for unique voices for which we are deeply grateful.”
“This honour is long overdue,” said TFCA President Brian D. Johnson. “So much of the rich film culture that we now take for granted in this city – and in this country – can be attributed to the efforts of Piers Handling. And what’s inspiring is that while he’s overseen the expansion of TIFF on so many levels as its CEO, Piers remains so clearly loyal to the cinephile passion that drew him to the festival in the first place.”
Piers Handling has been Director and Chief Executive Officer of TIFF since 1994, leading both the operational and artistic growth of the organization. TIFF has a $40 million annual operating budget and employs more than 180 full-time staff. Under Handling’s direction, the organization has grown to become an internationally renowned cultural institution. In 2010 TIFF opened its own permanent home which presents daily programming. TIFF Bell Lightbox, houses five cinemas, two exhibition galleries, and educational and learning studios. He led the $196 million capital campaign.
A passionate supporter of Canadian film, Handling has curated numerous film retrospectives and presented programmes of Canadian cinema at film institutions around the world. He created Canada’s Top Ten, TIFF’s annual event, which celebrates and promotes contemporary Canadian cinema. In 2013, Handling co-curated a multi-platform celebration of iconic Canadian director David Cronenberg.
The Technicolor Clyde Gilmour Award has been given to Canadians whose work has in some way enriched the understanding and appreciation of film in their native country. Past winners include Elwy Yost, James Quandt, Robin Wood, Kay Armatage, Allan King and John Dunning; the award was last given to Norman Jewison in 2013.
The Toronto Film Critics Association will announce the bulk of its 2014 awards on December 16, 2014, including the Scotiabank Jay Scott Prize for an Emerging Artist and the Manulife Financial Student Film Award. The TFCA will also name the three finalists for the coveted Rogers Best Canadian Film Award, by far Canada’s richest film prize at $100,000 with $5,000 going to each of two runners-up.
The winner will be announced at the 18th annual TFCA Awards, a gala dinner held in Toronto at The Carlu on Tuesday, January 6, 2015. The event will once again be hosted by Cameron Bailey, artistic director of the Toronto International Film Festival.
The TFCA is extremely grateful to founding sponsor Rogers Communications Inc. and thanks returning sponsors Manulife Financial, Scotiabank, Cineplex Entertainment, Technicolor Creative Services, Maclean’s Magazine, the Globe and Mail, Moët & Chandon, Shangri-La Hotel Toronto, The Carlu, North 44, MacLaren Craft and Ontario Media Development Corporation. The TFCA is also partnering with Twitter Canada to deliver live pictures of celebrities at the event.
The TFCA Awards gala will take place in the art-deco Round Room of the historic The Carlu, with cuisine provided by celebrity chef Mark McEwan, whose career has ranged from the stellar kitchen of North 44 to his current role as head judge on TV’s Top Chef Canada.
Please note: under the TFCA’s guidelines, contenders eligible for the awards include films released in Toronto in 2014 as well as films that qualify for the 2014 Academy Awards and have a Toronto release scheduled by the end of February 2015.
