The Canadian Film Fest (CFF), an indie-spirited festival dedicated to celebrating Canadian filmmakers, revealed the award winners for their 2023 edition on Saturday, April 1, 2023 following a successful 5-day festival at Toronto’s Scotiabank Theatre and virtually across Canada on Super Channel Fuse.
Monia Chokri’s Babysitter won Best Feature and Best Set Design, Adrian Murray was honoured with DGC Ontario’s Best Director award for his film Retrograde, Fanie Pelletier’s documentary, Bloom, was awarded the William F. White Reel Canadian Indie Award, and Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers’s How To Get My Parents To Divorce won the feature film jury awards. Additionally, Joy Webster’s Menace won Best Short Film and Polarized took home People’s Pick for Best Flick.
“Congratulations to all of this year’s Canadian Film Fest winners. We’re honoured to be part of the film’s journey,” said Ashleigh Rains, Festival Director, Canadian Film Fest. “We are immensely proud of the incredible line-up of homegrown films we were able to showcase and grateful to those who participated and supported CFF this year. A special thanks to the jury who carefully reviewed all of the films and to Super Channel for being an amazing partner.”
See below for the complete list of winners for the 2023 Canadian Film Fest. For more information, visit canfilmfest.ca.
The 2023 Canadian Film Fest Award Winners:
BEST FEATURE – Babysitter
DGC ONTARIO’S BEST DIRECTOR – Adrian Murray, Retrograde
BEST SET DESIGN – Babysitter
WILLIAM F. WHITE REEL CANADIAN INDIE AWARD – Bloom
*The winner will receive a $5,000 gift certificate for equipment rental at William F. White.
BEST SHORT FILM – Menace
BEST SHORT FILM PRODUCER – Shyam Valera, Desi Standard Time Travel
PEOPLE’S PICK FOR BEST FLICK – Polarized
Feature Film Jury Awards:
The feature film jury included Barb Godfrey (The Arthur Agency), Jonas Chernick (actor and screenwriter), Faran Moradi (director) and Stephanie Sonny Hooker (producer).
BEST SCREENPLAY – How To Get My Parents To Divorce
BEST YOUTH ENSEMBLE – How To Get My Parents To Divorce, Charlotte St-Martin, Liam Patenaude, Charlie Fortier, Louka Amadeo Bélanger-Leos, Simone Laperle
Short Film Jury Awards:
The short film jury consisted of Michelle McLeod (actor), Emily Andrews (producer) and Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll (actor).
BEST DOCUMENTARY – Quiet Minds Silent Streets
BEST PERFORMANCE – Eric Peterson, Junior’s Giant
BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE – Cassandra Paige, No Bedroom
BEST ENSEMBLE – The Untouchable
OUTSTANDING ANIMATION – Corvine
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – There Was Nothing
About the Canadian Film Fest
The Canadian Film Fest (CFF) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to supporting Canadian independent films and cultivating emerging and established filmmaking talent. Film-loving audiences come to enjoy a diverse selection of 100% Canadian film screenings (features & shorts) and filmmakers flock to the CFF’s various industry events to take advantage of essential networking opportunities. CFF’s mission is to celebrate the art of cinematic storytelling by showcasing Canadian films and filmmakers.
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