Toronto International Film Festival Amplify Voices Award Explained

The Amplify Voices Award is an annual film award presented by the Toronto International Film Festival. First presented at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, the award was originally presented to three films annually, with one award open to all Canadian feature films and designated as the Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Film, and two awards presented to films from anywhere in the world directed by filmmakers who are Black, Indigenous or People of Colour. The winners in both the Canadian and BIPOC categories are selected and presented by the same jury.

In 2023, the award's criteria were changed, with the eligibility restricted to Canadian films; one award was presented for Best Film, one award was presented for Best First Film, and a new Trailblazer Award was presented to honour a Canadian BIPOC filmmaker for their overall career. The overall Best Canadian Film award was also split back off from Amplify Voices, returning to its own category.

As with all of TIFF's juried awards, the jury also have the discretion to name one or more honorable mentions in addition to the overall winners.

Winners

As the award for Best Canadian Film was simply a renaming of TIFF's existing Best Canadian Film award, winners in the Canadian film category are listed in that article; only winners of the BIPOC categories are listed below.

YearFilmDirectorRef
2020The DiscipleChaitanya Tamhane[1]
Night of the Kings (La Nuit des Rois)Philippe Lacôte
Downstream to Kinshasa (En route pour le milliard)Dieudo Hamadi
2021The Gravedigger's WifeKhadar Ayderus Ahmed[2]
A Night of Knowing NothingPayal Kapadia
2022Leonor Will Never DieMartika Ramirez Escobar[3]
While We WatchedVinay Shukla
Madison Thomas[4]
2023KanavalHenri Pardo[5]
Tautuktavuk (What We See)Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk

Trailblazer

Notes and References

  1. Daniele Alcinii, "TIFF ’20: “Inconvenient Indian” takes People’s Choice Documentary Award". RealScreen, September 21, 2020.
  2. Steve Pond, "‘Belfast’ Wins Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award". TheWrap, September 18, 2021.
  3. Christian Zilko, "‘The Fabelmans’ Wins TIFF 2022 People’s Choice Award". IndieWire, September 18, 2022.
  4. Web site: Steven Spielberg's 'The Fabelmans' Wins Toronto Film Festival People's Choice Award. Deadline. Pete. Hammond. September 18, 2022. September 18, 2022.
  5. Christian Zilko, "American Fiction’ Wins People’s Choice Award at 2023 TIFF (Complete Winners List)". IndieWire, September 17, 2023.