John Dunning Best First Feature Award Explained

The John Dunning Best First Feature Award is a special Canadian film award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the year's best feature film by a first-time film director. Under the earlier names Claude Jutra Award and Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature, the award has been presented since the 14th Genie Awards in 1993.[1] [2]

Formerly a juried prize whose winner was announced in advance of the ceremony, the award is now presented as a conventional category with a full shortlist of nominees.

To date six films, The Confessional (Le Confessionnal), , Away from Her, A Colony (Une colonie), Beans and Scarborough, have won both the Best First Feature and Best Picture awards in the same year; the directors of Le Confessionnal, Atanarjuat, Away from Her and Scarborough also won the award for Best Director for the same films.

History

The award was originally named in memory of Claude Jutra, a Canadian film director who died in 1986.[3] Formerly part of the Genie Awards ceremonies, the Claude Jutra Award was transitioned to be part of the new Canadian Screen Awards in 2013.

Following the February 2016 publication of Yves Lever's biography of Jutra, which contained allegations that Jutra had sexually abused underage children during his lifetime, the Academy announced that it was removing Jutra's name from the award.[4] Québec Cinéma also removed Jutra's name from its Prix Jutra ceremonies on the same day.[4]

Beginning with the 4th Canadian Screen Awards in 2016, the award was presented as the Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature. In the same year the John Dunning Discovery Award, named in memory of film producer John Dunning, was introduced to honour microbudget films. Initially it was a separate award from the Best First Feature category, with the two awards presented alongside each other to different films,[5] until the two awards were merged under the John Dunning Best First Feature Award name beginning with the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019.

Winners

Claude Jutra Award

width=8%Yearwidth=19%Filmwidth=19%Directorwidth=2%Ref
1993
14th Genie Awards
The Grocer's Wife John Pozer
1994
15th Genie Awards
Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes) Michel Poulette
1995
16th Genie Awards
The Confessional (Le Confessionnal) Robert Lepage
1996
17th Genie Awards
Joe's So Mean to Josephine Peter Wellington
1997
18th Genie Awards
The Hanging Garden Thom Fitzgerald
1998
19th Genie Awards
Last Night Don McKellar
1999
20th Genie Awards
Post Mortem Louis Bélanger
2000
21st Genie Awards
The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge (La Moitié gauche du frigo) Philippe Falardeau
2001
22nd Genie Awards
Zacharias Kunuk
2002
23rd Genie Awards
Flower & Garnet Keith Behrman
2003
24th Genie Awards
How My Mother Gave Birth to Me During Menopause (Comment ma mère accoucha de moi durant sa ménopause) Sébastien Rose
2004
25th Genie Awards
White Skin (La Peau blanche) Daniel Roby
2005
26th Genie Awards
Familia Louise Archambault
2006
27th Genie Awards
Eve and the Fire Horse Julia Kwan
The Secret Life of Happy People (La Vie secrète des gens heureux) Stéphane Lapointe
2007
28th Genie Awards
Away from Her Sarah Polley
2008
29th Genie Awards
Everything Is Fine (Tout est parfait) Yves Christian Fournier
2009
30th Genie Awards
I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) Xavier Dolan
2010
31st Genie Awards
Exit 67 (Sortie 67) Jephté Bastien [6]
2011
32nd Genie Awards
Nuit #1 Anne Émond [7]
2012
1st Canadian Screen Awards
Blackbird Jason Buxton [8]
2013
2nd Canadian Screen Awards
Whitewash Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais [9]
2014
3rd Canadian Screen Awards
Bang Bang Baby Jeffrey St. Jules [10]

Best First Feature

width=8%Yearwidth=19%Filmwidth=19%Directorwidth=2%Ref
2015
4th Canadian Screen Awards
River Jamie M. Dagg [11]
2016
5th Canadian Screen Awards
Old Stone Johnny Ma [12]
2017
6th Canadian Screen Awards
Ava Sadaf Foroughi [13]

John Dunning Discovery Award

YearFilmDirectorRef
2015
4th Canadian Screen Awards
Mina WalkingYosef Baraki[14]
2016
5th Canadian Screen Awards
The LockpickerRandall Okita[15]
2017
6th Canadian Screen Awards
Black CopCory Bowles[16]
The DevoutConnor Gaston[17]
Wexford PlazaJoyce Wong

John Dunning Best First Feature Award

YearFilmDirectorRef
2018
7th Canadian Screen Awards
A Colony (Une colonie)Geneviève Dulude-De Celles[18]
Family First (Chien de garde)Sophie Dupuis
FirecrackersJasmin Mozaffari
The Nest (Le nid)David Paradis
TouchedKarl R. Hearne
2019
8th Canadian Screen Awards
MurmurHeather Young[19]
Black ConfluxNicole Dorsey[20]
Mad Dog LabineJonathan Beaulieu-Cyr, Renaud Lessard
Sympathy for the Devil (Sympathie pour le diable)Guillaume de Fontenay
The Twentieth CenturyMatthew Rankin
2020
9th Canadian Screen Awards
BeansTracey Deer[21]
The Kid DetectiveEvan Morgan[22]
TitoGrace Glowicki
VacarmeNeegan Trudel
ViolationMadeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli
2021
10th Canadian Screen Awards
ScarboroughShasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson[23]
IslandsMartin Edralin[24]
Night RaidersDanis Goulet
The Noise of Engines (Le Bruit des moteurs)Philippe Grégoire
Without Havana (Sin la Habana)Kaveh Nabatian
2022
11th Canadian Screen Awards
Falcon LakeCharlotte Le Bon[25]
The MaidenGraham Foy[26]
Noemie Says Yes (Noémie dit oui)Geneviève Albert
Rodeo (Rodéo)Joëlle Desjardins Paquette
WolvesDanny Dunlop
2023
12th Canadian Screen Awards
In FlamesZarrar Kahn[27]
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant)Ariane Louis-Seize[28]
KanavalHenri Pardo
RichelieuPier-Philippe Chevigny
Something You Said Last NightLuis De Filippis
Through the Night (Quitter la nuit)Delphine Girard

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/claude-jutra-award/ Claude Jutra Award
  2. Book: Valerie J. Webster. Awards, Honors & Prizes: United States and Canada 1999. 1998. Gale Research. 978-0-7876-1501-7. 3.
  3. Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . pp. 199-203.
  4. https://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/quebec+culture+minister+asks+film+industry+yank+jutras/11725149/story.html "Claude Jutra's name to be pulled from Quebec film awards"
  5. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/canadian-screen-awards-rightly-leave-hollywood-behind/article37617239/ "Canadian Screen Awards leave Hollywood behind"
  6. http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/incendies-barney-s-version-dominate-genies-1.1078773 "Incendies, Barney's Version dominate Genies"
  7. http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/02/22/claude-jutra-award.html "Quebec's Anne Émond wins debut director award"
  8. News: Blackbird director Jason Buxton wins first-film honour. January 30, 2013. CBC News. January 29, 2013.
  9. News: Le Claude-Jutra à Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais. Le Devoir. January 23, 2014.
  10. http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/news/academy-names-claude-jutra-award-winner/1003456632/ "Academy Names Claude Jutra Award Winner"
  11. http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/jutra-award-dagg-river-1.3432436 "Jamie M. Dagg wins Claude Jutra Award for Laos-set thriller River"
  12. http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/ma-s-old-stone-gets-canadian-academy-s-best-first-feature-award-1.3268060 "Ma's 'Old Stone' gets Canadian academy's Best First Feature award"
  13. https://nationalpost.com/pmn/entertainment-pmn/sadaf-foroughis-ava-wins-best-first-feature-film-from-canadian-screen-awards "Sadaf Foroughi's 'Ava' wins best first feature film from Canadian Screen Awards"
  14. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/mina-walking-honoured-with-inaugural-discovery-award-565775721.html "Mina Walking Honoured with Inaugural Discovery Award"
  15. http://playbackonline.ca/2017/01/12/randall-okita-to-receive-inaugural-john-dunning-discovery-award/ "Randall Okita to receive inaugural John Dunning Discovery Award"
  16. http://playbackonline.ca/2018/04/25/northern-banner-picks-up-cory-bowles-black-cop/ "Northern Banner picks up Cory Bowles’ Black Cop"
  17. Norman Wilner, "The Canadian Screen Awards showers love on (almost) everyone". Now, January 16, 2018.
  18. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1161646/prix-ecrans-canadiens-2019-gagnants "Les Québécois remportent plus de la moitié des trophées à l'avant-gala des prix Écrans canadiens"
  19. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/filmmaker-saint-john-screen-award-1.5593386 "Filmmaker from Saint John wins Canadian Screen Award"
  20. Norman Wilner, "Canadian Screen Awards 2020: Prepare for a Schitt's show". Now, February 18, 2020.
  21. Naman Ramachandran, "‘Schitt’s Creek,’ ‘Blood Quantum’ Triumph at Canadian Screen Awards". Variety, May 21, 2021.
  22. Web site: Canadian Screen Awards Announces 2021 Film Nominations. https://web.archive.org/web/20210330161247/https://etcanada.com/news/762082/canadian-screen-awards-announces-2021-film-nominations/. dead. March 30, 2021. March 30, 2021. ET Canada. Brent Furdyk. en-US.
  23. https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/night-raiders-scarborough-csa-night-five-1.6414141 "Night Raiders, Scarborough emerge victorious at 5th night of Canadian Screen Awards"
  24. Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022.
  25. Jenna Benchetrit, "Brother dominates with a dozen wins on third night of Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, April 13, 2023.
  26. Charles-Henri Ramond, "Écrans canadiens – Viking,13 nominations". Films du Québec, February 22, 2023.
  27. Connie Thiessen, "Canadian Screen Awards winners: Cinematic Arts". Broadcast Dialogue, May 30, 2024.
  28. https://www.northernstars.ca/blackberry-leads-csa-nominations/ "BlackBerry Leads CSA Nominations"