Ceremony leads the winners from this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival. The film directed by Banchi Hanuse won the Tides Award for Best Canadian Documentary. The award carries at $15,000 purse, courtesy of Rogers.
The film explores efforts by members of the Nuxalk Nation to restore the beloved ooligan fish population that sustained generations of families in the Bella Coola region. Hanuse parallels the restoration efforts with the Nuxalk’s own resilience in the face of colonialism. The film draws intimate connections between the participants and the land that carries their history. Ceremony previous won the Special Jury Prize-Canadian for Feature Documentary at Hot Docs.
“The mystery of the disappearance of the ooligan fish from Bella Coola is slowly revealed in this timely, passionate story of the Nuxalk Nations efforts to protect and preserve its lands and waters,” remarked the jury in a statement. “Through beautiful cinematography and inventive storytelling, the film documents the strengths of community members consistently challenging the boundaries of imposed systems while drawing upon the resiliency and generosity of their ancestors. The film encourages us to reflect on how cultural resurgence can contribute to the collective good.” The jurors for VIFF’s Canadian doc prize were Selwyn Jacob, Lyana Patrick, and Jeff Lee Petry. Carol Nguyen’s Still Night, Burning House received an honourable mention.
Other VIFF winners included Canada’s Oscar bid Nina Roza, which scored the Summit Award for Outstanding Canadian Narrative Feature. The drama directed by Genevieve Dulude-De Celles is a migration saga about a Bulgarian curator entering the arts scene in Canada. The win carries a cash prize of $15,000 courtesy of the Directors Guild of Canada and marks a good start for the drama as it begins its Canadian run outside of Quebec. An honourable mention went to Ian Bawa’s drama Strong Son.
Meanwhile, Nyla Innuksuk’s In the Heart of the South won the Horizons Award for Outstanding First or Second Canadian Narrative Feature. The arts scene satire picked up a $3,000 prize from the festival for its horror movie twist on the expectations that Indigenous, Inuit, and Métis creatives face from the cultural establishment. Nathan Donovan’s Clubfoot received a special mention.
On the home front, the Arbutus Award for Outstanding BC Film went to Marie Clements’ magical-realist drama How We Stand about two strong-willed sisters who stand up to Canada’s colonial system. The award brings a $10,000 purse from Creative BC and $15,000 in post-production services from Company 3. Send the Rain by Hayley Gray and Kaayla Whachell received an honourable mention.
International winners among VIFF’s juried prizes included Hear the Yellow, directed by Banu Sıvacı, which took home Outstanding International First or Second Narrative Feature, while the Short Form Award went to re-Parenting by Yu Yu. VIFF runs through weekend with the audience awards being announced after the festival.
