British filmmaker Mike Leigh will be feted at this year’s Toronto Film Festival with the TIFF Ebert Director Award for career achievement.
The announcement was made this morning by TIFF head Cameron Bailey. Leigh returns to TIFF this year for the World Premiere of his 23rd film, Hard Truths, screening as part of the Special Presentations programme.
He reunites with Academy Award nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets & Lies) in the pic which is described as an “intimate study of modern family life.” Hard Truths will be distributed by Bleecker Street in the US and by Mongrel Media in Canada.
Leigh has had eight films in Official Selection at the festival, including Another Year, Happy-Go-Lucky, and Mr. Turner. Named after legendary film critic Roger Ebert, previous recipients of the award include Martin Scorsese, Claire Denis, Ava DuVernay, Wim Wenders, and the late Agnès Varda.
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