Andy Lau, Carolina Markowicz, Lukasz Zal to Receive Toronto Film Fest Awards

Etan Vlessing
·2 min read
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Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau, Brazilian director Carolina Markowicz and Oscar-nominated cinematographer Lukasz Zal will be honored at the Toronto Film Festival, including as part of the fifth annual TIFF Tribute Awards on Sept. 10, organizers said on Tuesday.

On Sept. 15, Lau, who sits atop China’s A-list as both an actor and a pop performer, will receive a special tribute award ahead of the world premiere of Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor, where he plays a movie star seeking relevance via a film festival–baiting art-house role.

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And during the TIFF Tribute Awards, Markowicz will be honored with the TIFF Emerging Talent Award, while Poland’s Zal will be feted with a TIFF Artisan Award. Markowicz is headed to Toronto for the world premiere of her second feature, Toll, on Sept. 9.

Zal is best known for his cinematography in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War and Ida and returns to Toronto with Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, which was shot in Poland and earned the Grand Prix trophy at the Cannes Film Festival.

“We are thrilled to honor the remarkable talents and contributions of Andy Lau, Carolina Markowicz and Lukasz Zal. An industry icon and multi-faceted artist with an impressive filmography, Lau has paved the way for a generation of performers. Emerging talent honoree Markowicz has an exciting future ahead as one of the most fearless directors of her generation, and Zal’s cinematography continues to evoke emotion in The Zone of Interest,” Cameron Bailey, CEO of the Toronto Film Festival, said in a statement.

Choosing these international stars for TIFF honors allows the festival to get around the uncertainty cast by the ongoing Hollywood actors strike that could see U.S. stars skip the fall film festivals.

SAG-AFTRA restrictions require actors not to promote any film that’s from a member of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, meaning any streamer, major legacy studio or a specialty division such as Sony Pictures Classics, Searchlight or Focus Features (which are owned by Sony, Disney and Universal, respectively).

The Toronto Film Festival, set to run Sept. 7 to 17, earlier announced it would open its 2023 edition with Japanese anime legend Hayao Miyazaki’s much anticipated final film, The Boy and the Heron.

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