TORONTO — Hollywood stars Joaquin Phoenix and Meryl Streep will be the toast of the Toronto International Film Festival tonight.
The two actors are the centrepiece of the inaugural TIFF Tribute Gala — a fundraiser that highlights standout creators in the film industry.
Both Phoenix and Streep will receive their honours on the same night their films screen at the festival.
Phoenix is in town for the North American premiere of “Joker,” a dark comic book origin story where he plays the titular character. The drama picked up the Golden Lion award at the 76th Venice film festival on Saturday.
Streep is showing “The Laundromat,” a Netflix film directed by Steven Soderbergh that dives into the story behind the Panama Papers documents leak.
The dinner-and-cocktails evening will be held in downtown Toronto at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, raising money to support TIFF’s year-round programming.
Other honourees for the evening include New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi, whose satire “Jojo Rabbit” is part of this year’s lineup. He will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award, named after the late film critic Roger Ebert. And cinematographer Roger Deakins will receive the TIFF Variety Artisan Award.
The Mary Pickford Award for an emerging, groundbreaking female talent will go to French director Mati Diop, whose film “Atlantics” is playing the festival.
Producer David Foster is also slated to appear as part of a special tribute to his career.
The Toronto film festival runs until Sept. 15.
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David Friend, The Canadian Press