Skip to main content

Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey, Co-Heads of TIFF, together with Bell Media are delighted to announce that award-winning Canadian musician Shawn Mendes will perform as part of the 2020 TIFF Tribute Awards, airing Tuesday, September 15 at 8pm ET/PT on CTV and everywhere CTV content can be found, and streamed internationally by ​Variety,​ during this year’s 45th annual Toronto International Film Festival.

Mendes released his debut studio album, ​Handwritten​, in 2015, with the single “Stitches” reaching the Top 10 charts in the US and Canada. He then released two other albums: ​Illuminate​ (2016), with singles including “Treat You Better”and“There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back,”and Shawn Mendes (2018),with the single “InMyBlood.” Mendes has won 13 SOCAN awards, 10 MTV Europe Music Awards, eight Juno Awards, eight iHeartRadio MMVAs, and two American Music Awards, and he has been nominated for three Grammy Awards.

“Shawn shares TIFF’s commitment to elevating and empowering young changemakers to transforming the world through advocacy, and we’re absolutely thrilled to have him join us to perform at this year’s TIFF Tribute Awards as we honour the film industry’s contributors,” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director and Co-Head, TIFF.

Mendes’s performance comes as TIFF announces its new Shawn Mendes Foundation Changemaker Award, presented by the Shawn Mendes Foundation, which will be given — in addition to a $10,000 award — to a Festival film that tackles issues of social change. The winning film will be chosen by TIFF’s Next Wave Committee, a group of young film lovers who recognize cinema’s power to transform the world.

The Shawn Mendes Foundation will also be making an annual contribution in support of TIFF Next Wave, helping TIFF deliver key initiatives to elevate young voices.

“I’m so excited for the Shawn Mendes Foundation to be partnering with TIFF to give this new annual Changemaker Award at the Festival, to support filmmakers that are tackling world and social issues with their films,” stated Mendes. “It’s important now more than ever that we lift up the powerful voices of creatives who are helping inspire change.”

It was also announced today that ETALK’s Chloe Wilde and Tyrone Edwards will host the broadcast and will be joined by presenters including Golden Globe Award–winning actor Colin Farrell, award-winning director Ava DuVernay, Bollywood star Tabu, Academy Award–winning and Emmy Award-winning actress Regina King, Academy Award–winning actress Olivia Colman, Academy Award–winning actress Jodie Foster, and NAACP Image Award winner Delroy Lindo.

“We are thrilled to have Shawn, one of Canada’s biggest and brightest stars, perform on the inaugural broadcast of the 2020 TIFF Tribute Awards,” said Randy Lennox, President, Bell Media. “And as Canada’s go-to entertainment news brand, ETALK, is always front and centre during TIFF, having Chloe and Tyrone as hosts is a natural fit. We are looking forward to bringing this entertaining, star-studded event to viewers across Canada.”

Produced by Bell Media Studios, the 2020 TIFF Tribute Awards airs Tuesday, September 15 at 8pm ET/PT on CTV and every where CTV​ content can be found. The broadcast will also be streamed by Variety​ from 8:30pm ET.

During the one-hour broadcast, Academy Award–winning actress Kate Winslet and Academy Award–winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins will both receive a TIFF Tribute Actor Award; director Chloé Zhao will receive the ​TIFF Ebert Director Award​; Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Mira Nair ​will be honoured with the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media​; Grammy Award–winning composer Terence Blanchard will receive theTIFF​ Variety​ Artisan Award; and Beans​ director Tracey Deer will receive the TIFF Emerging Talent Award.

The 45th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10–19, 2020