‘Especially satisfying’: Cronenberg on getting award dedicated to late friend Jewison

TORONTO — David Cronenberg debuted his latest feature “The Shrouds” at Cannes but said he won’t really feel like he’s shared the film until it hits Toronto.

The homegrown filmmaker’s dark thriller is set to make its North American premiere Wednesday at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Described as a film steeped in grief, “The Shrouds” centres on an entrepreneur still mourning the death of his wife four years earlier.

It made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival back in May but Cronenberg says, “until I’ve shown the film in Toronto, I haven’t really shown the film.

“That’s the way it feels,” Cronenberg said Sunday on the red carpet for the festival’s Tribute Awards.

“It can be shown in Europe and the U.S. but until it’s back in Toronto, I haven’t really shown it. Especially ‘The Shrouds,’ which was, of course, shot here and conceived here and has some resonances of my life here in Toronto.”

Cronenberg was at the annual fundraiser to accept the Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award. The 79-year-old director said the honour was “especially satisfying and sweet” given his long-running friendship with the late Jewison.

“Norman and I were friends and he was always a great supporter of my work and so on. And to be connected with him this way is doubly sweet than just having it, let’s say, be a career achievement award.”

Other award recipients included Angelina Jolie who accepted the Award in Impact Media; Cate Blanchett, who picked up the Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award; and Amy Adams, who claimed a performer’s prize for her role in Marielle Heller’s “Nightbitch.”

Blanchett’s award celebrates women who make a difference in addressing gender parity in the film industry. In her acceptance speech, she urged for more work to be done.

“We have to keep asking questions that open locked doors, and know our worth — our worth creatively, as well as financially. And greater inclusivity on our sets lead to less homogenous and more vibrant storytelling, as is evidenced by what is going on here at TIFF,” said Blanchett, whose film “Rumours” is at the festival.

Jolie, whose latest film “Without Blood” premiered Sunday, explained why she gravitates toward sharing war stories as she accepted her award.

The war drama, adapted from Alessandro Baricco’s novel of the same name, centres on a young girl seeking revenge for the murders of her father and brother.

“I wanted to believe that stories that allow us to understand our shared humanity might make these horrors less likely. When I look at the world today and the state of the world, I feel quite sick,” Jolie said.

The Tribute Awards celebrate the film industry’s “outstanding contributors” and raise funds for TIFF’s year-round programs.

Canadian film and TV star Sandra Oh served as honorary chair of the proceedings, which drew a star-studded audience that included director Denis Villeneuve, and performers Lupita Nyong’o, Salma Hayek Pinault, Selena Gomez, Mae Martin and Randy Bachman.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs through Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2024.

Alex Goudge, The Canadian Press