Two documentaries will compete for the WIFF Prize in Canadian Film at this year’s Windsor International Film Festival. Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, directed by Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, and Russians at War, directed by Anastasia Trofimova, are among the ten titles vying for WIFF’s $25,000 prize. WIFF unveiled the competition line-up on September 12 in a party at Toronto’s Bisha Hotel during the Toronto International Film Festival.
The announcement came on the heels of TIFF’s decision to halt screenings of Russians at War, citing security concerns following protests that preceded all of its festival screenings with little evidence that the film’s detractors had actually seen it. Windsor’s team stood by the decision to screen the doc and welcomed the opportunity for audiences to actually see the film and engage in a conversation. The doc offers an anti-war portrait of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine seen through the eyes of Russian soldiers at the front, which ultimately becomes a portrait of cancerous disillusionment with the war effort as Russian soldiers quit, die, and leave their families asking why.
Any Other Way, meanwhile, tells the story of soul singer Jackie Shane, who broke ground on the Toronto music scene as an out Black trans singer in the 1960s. The film tells how Shane quickly retreated from public life, and uses telephone conversations recorded during her final days to share her life’s story. Any Other Way won a jury prize at Hot Docs earlier this year.
“This year’s nominees represent the best of Canada’s ever-evolving film landscape, and we’re proud to recognize their remarkable achievement,” said Vincent Georgie, Executive Director and Chief Programmer, in a release. “It’s a privilege to showcase these filmmakers’ incredible work and we look forward to celebrating them with the WIFF Prize in Canadian Film.”
Dramas screening at WIFF include Canada’s Oscar submission Universal Language, directed by Matthew Rankin; Paying for It, directed by Sook-Yin Lee; Hunting Daze, directed by Annick Blanc; Lucy Grizzli Sophie, directed by Anne Émond; On Earth As in Heaven, directed by Nathalie Saint-Pierre; Really Happy Someday, directed J Stevens; Sharp Corner, directed by Jason Buxton; and Who Do I Belong to, directed by Meryam Joobeur.
Previous winners include Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person and Riceboy Sleeps. This year’s edition marks WIFF’s 20th anniversary with Sophie Deraspe’s Shepherds tapped to open the festival and a full run of the documentary series The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal on the doc slate announced to date. WIFF runs Oct. 24 to Nov. 3.
