Meryl Streep serenaded the room with a Joni Mitchell tribute, sweetly warbling “Oh Can-a-daa,” as she accepted an acting award Monday night at the inaugural TIFF Tribute Gala at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.Streep, at TIFF for the North American premiere of director Steven Soderbergh’s Panama Papers-fallout comedic drama The Laundromat, referenced Mitchell’s much-loved classic “A Case of You,” before cracking a joke about the Jumbotron-sized screens flanking the stage.She then turned serious, urging the audience to be mindful, explaining for the past decade she’s chosen the roles she takes on by asking herself, “does this help or does this hurt?”Streep set the tone for the first-ever Tribute Gala: a mix of humour and serious reflection from stars and filmmakers about what inspires their work.The evening gave some 500 guests a rare chance to sit down to supper with Hollywood notables and rising stars in a room dotted with boldface, moviemakers and industry luminaries. They dined on arugula and buffalo mozzarella salad, coffee-rubbed beef tenderloin and a three-tiered dessert platter filled with fancy sweets.The clink of silverware on china was occasionally annoying as people spoke and it was hard to get a good view of the podium from tables like mine at the far side of the room, but as Streep pointed out, the big screens made it easy to see the stars close up.My dinner tablemates included Frankie director Ira Sachs and the film’s star, celebrated French actress Isabelle Huppert, along with up-and-coming French filmmaker Mati Diop, who was presented with the TIFF Mary Pickford Award for an emerging female talent in the film industry.New Zealand actor-director Taika Waititi, at TIFF with satirical comedy Jojo Rabbit, was at the table beside me. Later, he accepted the TIFF Ebert Director Award — named for the legendary late film critic Roger Ebert — in typical humour, with a bizarrely entertain ...
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