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WIFF PRIZE IN CANADIAN FILM

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What's On, November 2024

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WIFF’s Prize in Canadian Film WIFF is committed to celebrating excellence in Canadian film by honouring Canadian films and filmmakers with an annual cash prize of $25,000. The list of nominees is announced by WIFF in early September, and an independent jury comprised of film industry experts selects and announces the winner during the first weekend of the Fall Festival.

The Francophone-Indigenous film Kuessipan, directed by Myriam Verreault was the recipient of the inaugural prize in 2019, and the Korean-Canadian film Riceboy Sleeps, directed by Anthony Shim was the recipient in 2022.

In 2023, jury president Steve Gravestock announced Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person directed by Ariane Louis-Seize as the winner.

2024 Nominees

Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story
(Michael Mabbott & Lucah Rosenberg-Lee)
Hunting Daze
(Annick Blanc)
Lucy Grizzli Sophie
(Anne Émond)
On Earth as in Heaven
(Nathalie Saint-Pierre)
Paying for It
(Sook-Yin Lee)
Really Happy Someday
(J Stevens)
Russians at War
(Anastasia Trofimova)
Sharp Corner
(Jason Buxton)
Universal Language 
(Matthew Rankin)
Who Do I Belong To 
(Meryam Joobeur)

Jury Panel

DON MCKELLAR

Most recently he wrote the pilot and was co-showrunner on the limited series The Sympathizer for HBO, A24 and Rhombus Media for which Robert Downey Jr. has received an Outstanding Supporting Actor Emmy nomination.

He was the screenwriter of Roadkill and Highway 61, and co-writer of Dance Me 

Outside, the Genie Award-winning Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould and The Red Violin (he also appeared in the latter two). He received a Genie Award as Best Supporting Actor for his role in Atom Egoyan’s Exotica and the Prix de la Jeunesse at Cannes for his directorial debut, Last Night, which he also wrote and starred in. He also wrote, directed and played the lead in his second film, Childstar.

His stage writing credits include the five plays he co-created with the Augusta Company and the book for the musical The Drowsy Chaperone, for which he won a Tony Award. He also wrote and starred in the CBC television series Twitch City. Other film and television appearances include David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ, Atom Egoyan’s Where the Truth Lies and the series Slings and Arrows for the Sundance Channel.

He collaborated on the film adaptation of Jose Saramago’s Nobel Prize-winning novel Blindness. Directed by Fernando Mereilles, he also starred with Julianne Moore, Gael Garcia Bernal and Mark Ruffalo. He also directed the Max Films feature The Grand Seduction, for which he won a DGC Award for Best Direction in 2014.

AISLING CHIN-YEE

JOEY KLEIN

As an actor some notable credits include; Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils, Don McKellar’s Through Black Spruce, a recurring guest star on the CW’s In The Dark, American Gangster, On The Road, Girl In The White Coat (Jutra Nomination Best Supporting Actor 2013), We’re Still Together (Actra Award Best Male Performance 2017, Prix Iris nomination Best Lead Male Performance 2018) and The Animal Project (TIFF 2013). He is represented by WME in the US, ART and GLAM in Canada, and is a graduate of Circle In The Square Theatre School and Concordia University.

ANDREW MURPHY

While currently leading the artistic direction for the organization, Andrew initiated its Industry programs, including the world’s first and only LGBTQ+ film financing forum, now in its 9th year.

Prior to Inside Out, Andrew served as Programming Manager for 12 years at the Atlantic International Film Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he co-created its youth film festival and school programs, as well as secured galas, special presentations, genre and queer content.

Andrew has served on numerous panels and juries over the course of his career including the Berlin Film Festival’s Teddy Jury, Palm Springs Short Film Festival, Cardiff’s Iris Prize Festival, and the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) Indiescreen Awards Juries. 

SRIMATI SEN

In this role – she works with movie theatre companies throughout the US and Canada to find innovative ways to promote Sony’s movies to their consumers, resulting in breaking records at the box office and spreading the magic of Hollywood to all corners of the continent. This career track has allowed her the privilege of working on many incredible movies & franchises such as James BondJumanji and Sony’s Marvel titles like Spider-Man.

Her ever-changing roles in film distribution marketing has also given her the opportunity to learn from, and be mentored by some amazingly accomplished executives both in Canada & the US. Being born in India, growing up in Australia, and then living in Toronto has helped to fuel and inspire her three biggest passions in life: Travel, Film and Food & Wine.  


PAST NOMINEES

WINNER – HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON

2023 nominees

  • BLACKBERRY, directed by Matt Johnson
  • THE DISHWASHER, directed by Francis Leclerc
  • FRONTIERS, directed by Guy Édoin
  • HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON, directed by Ariane Louis-Seize (WINNER)
  • IRENA’S VOW, directed by Louise Archambault
  • MY MOTHER’S MEN, directed by Anik Jean
  • THE NATURE OF LOVE, directed by Monia Chokri
  • ONE SUMMER, directed by Louise Archambault
  • SEVEN VEILS, directed by Atom Egoyan
  • SOLO, directed by Sophie Dupuis
Riceboy Sleeps
WINNER – RICEBOY SLEEPS

2022 nOMINEES

  • BROTHER, directed by Clement Virgo
  • ETERNAL SPRING, directed by Jason Loftus
  • FALCON LAKE, directed by Charlotte Le Bon
  • I LIKE MOVIES, directed by Chandler Levack
  • NORBOURG, directed by Maxime Giroux
  • NORTH OF NORMAL, directed by Carly Stone
  • RICEBOY SLEEPS, directed by Anthony Shim (WINNER)
  • SOMETHING YOU SAID LAST NIGHT, directed by Luis De Filippis
  • THE SWEARING JAR, directed by Lindsay MacKay
  • TO KILL A TIGER, directed by Nisha Pahuja
WINNER – KUESSIPAN

2019 nOMINEES

  • AND THE BIRDS RAINED DOWN, directed by Louise Archambault
  • ANTIGONE, directed by Sophie Deraspe
  • CASTLE IN THE GROUND, directed by Joey Klein
  • EASY LAND, directed by Sanja Zivkovic
  • GORDON LIGHTFOOT: IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND, directed by Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni
  • JORDAN RIVER ANDERSON, THE MESSENGER, directed by Alanis Obomsawin
  • KUESSIPAN, directed by Myriam Verreault (WINNER)
  • MATTHIAS & MAXIME, directed by Xavier Dolan
  • PREY, directed by Matt Gallagher
  • WILLIE, directed by Laurence Mathieu-Léger

PAST JURIES

2023 jury members

  • Steve Gravestock (Jury President), Former Senior International Programmer (TIFF)
  • Kerri Craddock, Apple TV Programming Lead
  • Maxime Giroux, filmmaker
  • Peter Howell, film critic, member of the Critics Choice Association
  • Tiffany Hsiung, filmmaker

2022 Jury members

  • Magali Simard (Jury President), Director of Industry and Community Relations at Cinespace Studios Toronto
  • Jason Gorber, film journalist and member of the Toronto Film Critics Association, OFCS and the Critics Choice Association
  • Sally Lee, Executive Director of the Canadian Independent Screen Fund for BPOC creators
  • Joanna Miles, marketing executive
  • Glenn Sumi, arts writer and editor

2019 jury members

  • Karen Bruce, Executive Director, Women In Film and Television Toronto
  • Isabelle Corriveau, Journalist, Radio-Canada
  • Joshua Riehl, Writer-Director, The Russian Five

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