2021 EDITION
2021 AWARDS
GRAND PRIZE FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE presented by TV5
Looking for Horses by Stefan Pavlovic “For its great mastery of a hybrid form, for its eloquent interweaving of formal experimentation into a narrative process, for its poetic interplay between micro and macro-cosmic questions.”
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE – INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
A Night of Knowing Nothing de Payal Kapadia “For its hypnotic and poetic approach to a story both personal and political, a tender protest film that transcends the conventions of nonfiction filmmaking.”
GRAND PRIZE FOR BEST NATIONAL FEATURE presented by PRIM
zo reken d'Emanuel Licha “For his poetic breaths and his fertile film device which, with the complicity of the team, highlight the tension between the characters and the reality that surrounds them. This process reminds us that our existence will always be political."
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE – NATIONAL FEATURE presented by PRIM
Animal macula de Sylvain L'Espérance “For being a hypnotic “geste de liberte” that offers the viewer a fantomatique and disturbing cinematic experience. With his haunting poetic essay the filmmaker pays a particular tribute to cinema and invites us to reflect on our animal condition as human beings.”
SPECIAL MENTION - PRIZE FOR BEST NATIONAL FEATURE
Dropstones by Caitlin Durlak
NEW VISIONS AWARD presented by Post-Moderne and la SCAM
Au-delà des hautes vallées by Maude Plante-Husaruk and Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis. “This film resonates beauty beyond words and images. There is this wonderful quote from Trinh T. Minh-Ha encouraging us to film alongside rather than about each other and we feel that it is in this sensitive approach that the filmmakers offer us this wonderful encounter. "
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT OR MEDIUM-LENGTH FILM
If You See Her, Say Hello by Hee Young Pyun and Jiajun (Oscar) Zhang “For the way it layers past and present to make us mourn a lost future; for the web it spins between the real and imaginary; for the tender beauty that glows deep within its dystopian landscape; and for the trance we find ourselves in, long after the dust has settled and the credits have rolled.”
SPECIAL MENTION - BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT OR MEDIUM-LENGTH FILM
All of Your Stars are but Dust on my Shoes by Haig Aivazian
BEST NATIONAL SHORT OR MEDIUM-LENGTH FILM presented by Télé-Québec and SLA Location
The Truss Arch by Sonya Stefan “For the playful energy with which it shakes off all restraints; for the power of a daughter’s questioning about aging, identity and freedom; and for the fearlessness at its core that reminds us to find joy within our bodies.”
MAGNUS ISACSSON AWARD presented in collaboration with DOC Québec, Cinema Politica, MainFilm, Funambules Médias and l'ARRQ.
Dear Jackie by Henri Pardo “Our choice for the Magnus-Isacsson award goes to a film that also takes us into inaccessible worlds, this one much closer to home. Its inspired direction and formal audacity come together in a film that also delivers an urgent message. Yet it is a joyful film that inspires us to grow even as it compels us to act. We are inspired by the author’s courage to say, poetically and forcefully, what official discourses suppress, and whose truth resides in the intimate relationship and trust established between the director and the community represented.”
SPECIAL MENTION - MAGNUS ISACSSON AWARD
zo reken by Emanuel Licha
STUDENT AWARD presented by the Caisse Desjardins du Plateau Mont-Royal
zo reken by Emanuel Licha “For the strength, beauty and relevance of the people it features, and for the infectious passion the filmmaker demonstrates for the many issues raised in his work.’’
PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD presented by the NOUS | MADE
Dear Audrey by Jeremiah Hayes