Thor-director Taika Waititi receives Toronto Film Festival tribute

Taika Waititi is set to receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival. The award, which honors a filmmaker for his contributions to cinema, will be handed to Waititi during the TIFF Tribute Gala awards event on September 9.

"Taika Waititi is the rock star cinema needs right now. His films are full of razor-sharp humour, faultless style and boundless generosity," Toronto artistic director and co-head Cameron Bailey said in a statement.

Waititi's film credits include Boy, What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He is also set to direct Thor 4, the follow-up to Thor: Ragnarok, which earned around $850 million at the global box office. The director will also debut his anti-hate satire, Jojo Rabbit, in Toronto. The film, which stars the filmmaker as Adolf Hitler, is set to get a theatrical release on October 8. 

TIFF earlier announced that Meryl Streep will receive the TIFF Tribute Actor Award, and Participant Media will receive the TIFF Impact Award, to be accepted by founder and chairman Jeff Skoll and CEO David Linde.