TORONTO — Renowned Métis performer from Alberta, Tantoo Cardinal won this year’s Technicolor Clyde Gilmour Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association.
Cardinal was presented the award by TFCA President Peter Howell at the Gilmour dinner on Monday, December 10 at the Gladstone Hotel
Established in 1997, the Toronto Film Critics Association is a nationally recognized forum that is comprised of Toronto-based journalists and broadcasters who specialize in film criticism and commentary. When appropriate, the association presents the Clyde Gilmour Award to a Canadian who has enriched the understanding and appreciation of film in this country. Past recipients include Elwy Yost, Gerald Pratley, James Quandt, Wayne Clarkson and Allan King.
The TFCA says it’s the first time in its history that the annual honour has gone to an actor, and an actress of indigenous descent no less. The prolific Indigenous stage and screen star will receive $50,000 in services to give to a filmmaker of her choice and will be announcing her selection in the near future.
Cardinal’s career spans decades in Canadian film and television. She might best be known for her turn in Kevin Costner’s 1990 drama Dances with Wolves, which won the Oscar for Best Picture. She was later invited among 928 new members this year to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and she said that her invitation to the Oscars academy represents a shift towards increased cultural diversity at the event.
After speaking graciously about the importance of critics in her acceptance speech, her announcement of the young filmmaker that she has chosen to be the recipient of $50,000 in post-production goods and services from Technicolor will take place at the TFCA’s awards gala at the Four Season’s Hotel in January of 2019.
