Grammy winner and Oscar-nominated composer and musician Terence Blanchard was announced today to as the recipient of the Toronto International Film Festival‘s TIFF Variety Artisan Award at this year’s TIFF Tribute Awards.
The award recognizes “a distinguished creative who has excelled at their craft and made an outstanding contribution to cinema and entertainment” with Blanchard having received an Oscar nomination from the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences last year for scoring Spike Lee‘s BlackKklansman.
Besides that Oscar nomination, Blanchard also received a BAFTA nomination for scoring BlackKklansman, after having done the music for Lee’s Malcolm X, The 25th Hour and When the Levee Breaks. Blanchard also scored Lee’s recent Netflix film, Da 5 Bloods. Blanchard also scored the HBO drama Perry Mason, and for both Regina King and Halle Berry‘s upcoming directorial debuts, One Night in Miami and Bruised, respectively, both which will screen at TIFF. King’s film will be released by Amazon Studios.
The tribute was announced by Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey, Co-Heads of TIFF, with the awards to be broadcast on Tuesday, September 15 at 8pm ET on Canada’s CTV, as well as broadcast worldwide by Variety.
In a statement, Vicente said, “For over 25 years Terence Blanchard has composed some of the most breathtaking and moving scores in film and television. From his frequent work with Spike Lee on 25th Hour, BlacKkKlansman and most recently Da 5 Bloods, and Kasi Lemmons on Eve’s Bayou and last year’s Harriet, he has created musical wonders for audiences and helped to elevate every project he has been a part of. We are thrilled to be honouring him with the TIFF Variety Artisan Award and to showcase his dynamic work, including One Night in Miami and Bruised, both of which we look forward to sharing with our TIFF audiences this September.”
Last year’s Artisan Award winner was cinematographer, Roger Deakins, who went on to win his second Oscar for filming Sam Mendes‘ 1917.
