#FIRSTLOOK: TFCA ANNOUNCE ADDITONAL 2023 AWARD WINNERS

The Toronto Film Critics Association is pleased to announce its recipients in the Company 3 Luminary Award, the Stella Artois Jay Scott Prize and the Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic Award.

Veteran Toronto International Film Festival programmer Steve Gravestock is the recipient of this year’s Company 3 Luminary Award. The TFCA thanks Company 3 for enabling the Luminary Award recipient to give $50,000 in services to a filmmaker of the honouree’s choosing. Gravestock will announce his designate in the days to come.

During his 25 years with TIFF, Gravestock has created a legacy of discovery where he introduced films like Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies and Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar, which went on to score Oscar nominations. His choices represented Canada on the world stage, as he continued to present the best new talent each year. Gravestock has shaped our appreciation of Canadian film through TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten and he will be remembered for hosting colourful post-screening panel discussions that introduced audiences to our best storytellers.

A believer in “We the North” long before the Raptors, Gravestock was also the programmer of Nordic film, picking Academy Award nominees like Petter Næss’s Elling, Mikael Håfström’s Evil, Susanne Bier’s In a Better World and Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person In The World.

The Company 3 Luminary Award recognizes a Canadian industry figure who has made a substantial and outstanding contribution to the advancement and/or history of Canadian cinema. This includes, but is not limited to, writers, directors, producers, distributors, actors, academics, cinematographers and technicians. Those who can viably be seen as forwarding Canadian cinema and culture through their work are eligible. In the spirit of the pay-it-forward nature of the honour, the recipient names an emerging filmmaker to receive $50,000 in services from Company 3.

Carol Nguyen wins the Stella Artois Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist, which carries a $10,000 purse, courtesy of Labatt. By age 20, the Vietnamese-Canadian was already turning heads worldwide with acclaimed short films drawn from her life. Her short documentaries Every Grain of Rice and No Crying at the Dinner Table and the drama Nanitic have been showcased at more than 80 film festivals, including TIFF, where the latter won the IMDBpro Short Cuts Share Her Journey Award.

As well, the TFCA announced its Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic award for aspiring film reviewers. Michelle Krasovitski was born to parents who left the Soviet Ukraine and shared their hunger for uncensored film experiences with her in their new country. Currently working on a master’s thesis in film, she has covered TIFF, Hot Docs and the Sundance film festivals for various publications. The Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic award comes with a cash prize of $1,000, courtesy of Telefilm Canada.

The Toronto Film Critics Association will announce the coveted Rogers Best Canadian Film Award, by far Canada’s richest film prize at $100,000, with $5,000 going to each of the two runners-up. The winner will be announced at the 26th Annual TFCA Awards Gala, held at The Omni King Edward Hotel Toronto on Monday, March 6, 2023.

The TFCA is extremely grateful to founding sponsor Rogers Communications for the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award, to returning sponsors Labatt for the Stella Artois Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist, to Netflix as the Dinner sponsor, to Air Canada as Official Airline and to Company 3 as the Luminary Award sponsor. The TFCA welcomes new sponsors Universal Pictures Canada as the Cocktail Reception sponsor, Prime Video as the After-Party sponsor, Telefilm Canada as the Emerging Critic sponsor and Pinnacle Live as the Official AV Sponsor. The TFCA also thanks sponsors Cineplex Entertainment, Omni King Edward Hotel and salutes stalwart supporters, G.H. Mumm Champagne, L’Eat Catering, Zoomer Magazine, Chairman Mills and The Printing House.

Website: www.torontofilmcritics.com
Twitter: @tfca