Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award explained

The Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award is an annual Canadian award, presented by the Directors Guild of Canada to honour works by emerging filmmakers.

Presented for the first time in 2016, the award is given primarily to filmmakers making their first or second feature films in any genre; however, more established filmmakers are also eligible for their first film outside their usual genre, such as a narrative filmmaker making their first documentary film or vice versa. An initial longlist of between 10 and 15 nominees is announced, which is then reduced to a shortlist of four to six films, before the award is presented at the annual DGC award gala.

Formerly presented as the DGC Discovery Award, it was renamed in 2022 in memory of director Jean-Marc Vallée following his death in December 2021.[1]

Winners and nominees

YearFilmDirectorResultRef
2016
Before the Streets (Avant les rues)Chloé LericheWinner[2]
2017
Luk'Luk'IWayne WapeemukwaWinner[3]
All You Can Eat BuddhaIan LagardeShortlist[4]
Mass for Shut-InsWinston DeGiobbi
Never Steady, Never StillKathleen Hepburn
Adventures in Public SchoolKyle RideoutLonglist[5]
AllureCarlos and Jason Sanchez
AvaSadaf Foroughi
Black CopCory Bowles
The CrescentSeth A. Smith
GregoireCody Bown
Indian HorseStephen Campanelli
Maison du BonheurSofia Bohdanowicz
Still Night, Still Light (Mes nuits feront écho)Sophie Goyette
Suck It UpJordan Canning
Sweet VirginiaJamie M. Dagg
2018
FaustoAndrea BussmannWinner[6]
Edge of the Knife (SG̲aawaay Ḵ'uuna)Gwaai Edenshaw, Helen Haig-BrownShortlist[7]
FirecrackersJasmin Mozaffari
A Little WisdomYuqi Kang
Ville NeuveFélix Dufour-Laperrière
ClaraAkash ShermanLonglist [8]
Family First (Chien de garde)Sophie Dupuis
FreaksZach Lipovsky, Adam Stein
Giant Little OnesKeith Behrman
Incredible ViolenceGaelen Patrick Condon
M/MDrew Lint
The Museum of Forgotten TriumphsBojan Bodružić
The New RomanticCarly Stone
Take LightShasha Nakhai
TransformerMichael Del Monte
2019
Tasha HubbardWinner[9]
Black ConfluxNicole DorseyShortlist[10]
MurmurHeather Young
RafHarry Cepka
The Twentieth CenturyMatthew Rankin
Blood QuantumJeff BarnabyLonglist[11]
Castle in the GroundJoey Klein
Drag KidsMegan Wennberg
A Kandahar AwayAisha Jamal
L.A. Tea TimeSophie Bédard Marcotte
The Rest of UsAisling Chin-Yee
There's Something in the WaterElliot Page, Ian Daniel
2020
BeansTracey DeerWinner[12]
Inconvenient IndianMichelle LatimerShortlist[13]
No Ordinary ManAisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt
ViolationMadeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli
La Contemplation du mystèreAlbéric AurtenècheLonglist[14]
Don't Worry, the Doors Will OpenOksana Karpovych
The Forbidden ReelAriel Nasr
Happy PlaceHelen Shaver
Kenbe la, Until We WinWill Prosper
Little OrphansRuth Lawrence
Monkey BeachLoretta Todd
Queen of the Morning CalmGloria Ui Young Kim
VagrantCaleb Ryan
The Walrus and the WhistleblowerNathalie Bibeau
2021
Night RaidersDanis GouletWinner[15]
The Noise of Engines (Le Bruit des moteurs)Philippe GrégoireShortlist[16]
WildhoodBretten Hannam
Without Havana (Sin la Habana)Kaveh Nabatian
BootleggerCaroline MonnetLonglist[17]
Fortitude (La Fortaleza)Jorge Thielen Armand
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Learn to SwimThyrone Tommy
Night BloomsStephanie Joline
One of OursYasmine Mathurin
Portraits from a FireTrevor Mack
Ste. AnneRhayne Vermette
Subjects of DesireJennifer Holness
2022
Riceboy SleepsAnthony ShimWinner[18]
Queens of the Qing Dynasty Ashley McKenzieShortlist[19]
RosieGail Maurice
Slash/BackNyla Innuksuk
Something You Said Last NightLuis De Filippis
When Morning ComesKelly Fyffe-Marshall
AnyoxRyan Ermacora, Jessica JohnsonLonglist[20]
Before I Change My MindTrevor Anderson
Broken Angel (MaaShwaKanManiTo)Jules Arita Koostachin
Dark NatureBerkley Brady
Framing AgnesChase Joynt
Laura O'Grady
Geographies of SolitudeJacquelyn Mills
Golden DeliciousJason Karman
ResetMin Bae
This House (Cette maison)Miryam Charles
Until Branches BendSophie Jarvis
2023
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant)Ariane Louis-SeizeWinner[21]
Atikamekw Suns (Soleils Atikamekw)Chloé LericheShortlist[22]
Hey, Viktor!Cody Lightning
In FlamesZarrar Kahn
The Queen of My DreamsFawzia Mirza
Banchi HanuseLonglist[23]
Coaching While BlackAlex Eskandarkhah
GaborJoannie Lafrenière
I'm Just Here for the RiotKathleen Jayme, Asia Youngman
SeagrassMeredith Hama-Brown
With Love and a Major OrganKim Albright

Notes and References

  1. Victoria Ahearn, "In brief: Out in the Ring wins top Canadian prize at Inside Out". Playback, June 9, 2022.
  2. Web site: Paul Gross takes top film honours at Directors Guild of Canada Awards . Hertz . Barry . . October 22, 2016.
  3. https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/lukluki-dga-canada-winner-1.4377453 "Luk'Luk'I among winners at Canada's directors guild awards"
  4. Regan Reid, "DGC unveils Discovery Award short list". Playback, October 23, 2017.
  5. Barry Hertz, "Directors Guild of Canada reveals long list for Discovery Award". The Globe and Mail, September 5, 2017.
  6. Greg David, "2018 Directors Guild of Canada Awards winners announced". TV, eh?, October 21, 2018.
  7. Jordan Pinto, "McGlynn, de Pencier in the running for DGC’s feature film prize". Playback, September 20, 2018.
  8. Connie Thiessen, "DGC's list of top new Canadian filmmakers to watch". Broadcast Dialogue, September 10, 2018.
  9. Lauren Malyk, "Patricia Rozema and Robert Budreau tie at DGC Awards". Playback, October 28, 2019.
  10. https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2019-09-12/nominees-announced-for-18th-annual-dgc-awards "Nominees announced for 18th Annual DGC Awards"
  11. Connie Thiessen, "Ellen Page, Megan Wennberg among DGC Discovery Award nominees". Broadcast Dialogue, September 9, 2019.
  12. Lauren Malyk, "Michelle Latimer, Vincenzo Natali among DGC film winners". Playback, October 28, 2020.
  13. Connie Thiessen, "DGC feature, doc, and short film nominees announced". Broadcast Dialogue, September 21, 2020.
  14. https://playbackonline.ca/2020/09/18/in-brief-latimer-deer-among-dgcs-discovery-long-list/ "In brief: Latimer, Deer among DGC's Discovery long list"
  15. Nick Krewen, "Directors Guild of Canada reveals feature, doc and short film winners". Playback, October 25, 2021.
  16. Kelly Townsend, "All My Puny Sorrows leads film nominees for 2021 DGC Awards". Playback, September 24, 2021.
  17. https://broadcastdialogue.com/tv-film-news-63/ "TV & Film News – DGC reveals Discovery Award long list of emerging directors to watch"
  18. Angelica Babiera, "David Cronenberg, Charles Officer among DGC award winners". Playback, November 7, 2022.
  19. Etan Vlessing, "DGC Awards: ‘Nightmare Alley,’ ‘Crimes of the Future,’ ‘Night Raiders’ Lead Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter, September 23, 2022.
  20. https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/jean-marc-vall-e-dgc-160000742.html "JEAN-MARC VALLÉE DGC DISCOVERY AWARD LONG LIST DROPS AT VISIONARIES"
  21. Connie Thiessen, "‘Women Talking’ leads winners at 22nd annual DGC Awards". Broadcast Dialogue, October 22, 2023.
  22. Taimur Sikander Mirza, "Women Talking leads film nominees for 2023 DGC Awards". Playback, September 20, 2023.
  23. Connie Thiessen, "DGC unveils 2023 Discovery Award long list". Broadcast Dialogue, September 12, 2023.