Norman Jewison, Moses Znaimer and Gordon Pinsent were among the industry icons on hand at Toronto’s Drake Hotel on June 26 to be inducted into the inaugural Canadian Film and Television Hall of Fame, organized by Playback.

‘It means a great deal to me,’ said Jewison, on stage at the downtown nightspot, as he accepted the plaque from Canadian Film Centre exec director Slawko Klymkiw, who praised the CFC founder and his boss as a ‘profound, intelligent, compassionate filmmaker.’

In the television category, Bon Cop, Bad Cop producer Kevin Tierney paid tribute to TV pioneer Znaimer, joking that in the old days, the original Citytv station cofounded by Znaimer was ‘the only good reason to move to Toronto.’

Posthumous honors were awarded to pioneers Harold Greenberg, the former head of Astral Media, and legendary French-Canadian director Claude Jutra. National Film Board French Program producer Anne-Marie Rocher picked up the award for Jutra, while Greenberg’s daughter Anna Sue Greenberg accepted the plaque on her father’s behalf, noting, ‘He would’ve been extremely flattered to be among such esteemed inductees.’ CBC journalist Barbara Frum, who died in 1992, also received posthumous recognition, and daughter Linda Frum appeared on her behalf.

Maple Pictures copresident Brad Pelman introduced Cinepix cofounders Andre Link and John Dunning as inductees in the feature film category. ‘It’s a great honor,’ said Link, who picked up his plaque alongside Greg Dunning, who stood in for his father, currently recuperating from an accident.

Pinsent, currently seen in theaters in Sarah Polley’s Away from Her, gave an emotional acceptance speech and paid tribute to other inductees as he received his award from actor Peter Keleghan, who is the partner of Pinsent’s daughter Leah. ‘I’m deeply thankful…I couldn’t be more privileged to be part of this for all the actors’ sake,’ said Pinsent.

Playback special reports editor Suzan Ayscough presented the industry builder plaque to Telefilm Canada founder Michael Spencer, who commented on the success of the Quebec film industry, adding, ‘I only wish that in the future we’ll have enough of a support for the English film industry.’

Inductees were chosen by a jury of industry professionals including Klymkiw, Tierney, Pelman, director Sturla Gunnarsson, actress Wendy Crewson, Playback editor Mark Dillon, Breakthrough Films and Television exec producer Ira Levy and CanWest MediaWorks VP Christine Shipton.

The virtual Hall of Fame is viewable online at:

www.halloffame.playbackmag.com. *