Hot Docs' best Canadian film prize goes to Geographies of Solitude
Key Takeaways:
- A film about an environmentalist living on Nova Scotia's Sable Island won top Canadian prizes at this year's Hot Docs Film Festival.
- Outside of the Canadian categories, Chan Tze Woon received $10,000 for his "evocative" protest film "Blue Island."
- Finally, award-winning Indian director Anand Patwardhan, who was featured in the retrospective show, received the year's greatest achievement award.
During this year's Hot Docs Film Festival, a movie about an environmentalist living on Nova Scotia's Sable Island took up top Canadian honors.
At a ceremony on Saturday morning at Toronto's TIFF Bell Lightbox, director Jacquelyn Mills earned the best Canadian feature documentary award and a CAD$10,000 cash prize.
"Geographies of Solitude," her film, tells the story of environmentalist Zoe Lucas, who lives on Sable Island full-time.
Mills also won Earl A. Glick emerging Canadian filmmaker prize, which is presented to a local filmmaker whose first or second feature-length film competes.
The jury complimented the film's "highly conceived and compelling visual and aural storytelling" in a statement.
Zayne Akyol's "Rojek," a journey into Syrian detention centers, won the $5,000 DGC special jury prize for Canadian feature documentary, while Noura Kevorkian's "Batata" got an honorable mention.
Avazeh Shahnavaz, an Iranian Canadian filmmaker, won the $5,000 Lindalee Tracey Award, which recognizes an emerging Canadian film director with a strong point of view, a sense of social justice, and comedy. She also earned $5,000 in post-production services and an Andrew Kuntz hand-blown glass sculpture.
Outside of the Canadian categories, "Blue Island" director Chan Tze Woon was awarded $10,000 for his "evocative" protest film. At the same time, in "The Wind Blows the Border," directors Laura Faerman and Marina Weis were granted the special jury prize for their "subtle and bold" look at two sides of a land conflict in Brazil.
Director Bogna Kowalczyk received the award for the emerging foreign filmmaker and a $3,000 cash prize for his film "Boylesque," a picture of an openly gay 82-year-old Polish man who lives out loud in his bigoted homeland.
Director Alain Gomis of "Rewind & Play" won the best mid-length documentary, Amy Bench of "More Than I Remember" won the best international short documentary, and Kitra Cahana of "Perfecting the Art of Longing" won the Betty Youson award for best Canadian short documentary.
Finally, the year's best achievement award went to award-winning Indian director Anand Patwardhan, featured in the retrospective program. In contrast, the Don Haig Award went to producer Mila Aung-Thwin of "Midwives."
On May 8, the Rogers Audience Award for the best Canadian documentary will be presented at a special encore screening in Toronto, bringing the festival to a close.