Toronto International Film Festival Best Canadian Discovery Award Explained

The Toronto International Film Festival Best Canadian Discovery Award is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to a film judged to be the best Canadian first or second feature film by an emerging Canadian director.[1]

The award was previously presented from 1997 to 2019 as Best Canadian First Feature, and was discontinued after the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. It was revived in 2024 under its current name.[1] Concurrently with the award's reintroduction, TIFF announced that the Best Canadian Film will now be restricted to filmmakers who are releasing their third or later films, with first and second films eligible for the Discovery award.[2]

As with all of TIFF's juried awards, the jury has the discretion to grant one or more honorable mentions in addition to the main award winner.

Winners

† denotes a film which also won the Best First Feature award at the Genie Awards or the Canadian Screen Awards.

Best Canadian First Feature (1997-2019)

YearFilmDirectorReference
1997
CubeVincenzo Natali[3]
1998
Last Night †Don McKellar[4]
1999
Catherine Annau[5]
Full BlastRodrigue Jean
2000
The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge (La Moitié gauche du frigo) †Philippe Falardeau[6]
Red DeerAnthony Couture
2001
InertiaSean Garrity[7]
2002
Marion BridgeWiebke von Carolsfeld[8]
2003
Love, Sex and Eating the BonesSudz Sutherland[9]
2004
White Skin (La Peau blanche) †Daniel Roby[10]
2005
The Life and Hard Times of Guy TerrificoMichael Mabbott[11]
2006
On the Trail of Igor Rizzi (Sur la trace d'Igor Rizzi)Noël Mitrani[12]
2007
Continental, a Film Without Guns (Continental, un film sans fusil)Stéphane Lafleur[13]
2008
Before Tomorrow (Le Jour avant le lendemain)Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu[14]
BorderlineLyne Charlebois
2009
The Wild HuntAlexandre Franchi[15]
2010
The High Cost of LivingDeborah Chow[16]
2011
Citizen GangsterNathan Morlando[17]
Nuit #1 †Anne Émond[18]
2012
AntiviralBrandon Cronenberg[19]
BlackbirdJason Buxton
2013
Asphalt WatchesShayne Ehman, Seth Scriver[20]
2014
Bang Bang Baby †Jeffrey St. Jules[21]
2015
Sleeping GiantAndrew Cividino[22]
2016
Old Stone †Johnny Ma[23]
2017
Luk'Luk'IWayne Wapeemukwa[24]
2018
Roads in February (Les routes en février)Katherine Jerkovic[25]
2019
The Twentieth CenturyMatthew Rankin[26]

Best Canadian Discovery (2024-present)

YearFilmDirectorReference
2024Universal Language (Une langue universelle)Matthew Rankin[27]
You Are Not Alone (Vous n'êtes pas seuls)Marie-Hélène Viens, Philippe Lupien

See also

Notes and References

  1. Jeremy Kay, "TIFF brings back renamed Best Canadian Discovery Award". Screen Daily, August 22, 2024.
  2. Pat Mullen, "TIFF Previews Upcoming Market at Pre-Festival Event". Point of View, August 22, 2024.
  3. "Hanging Garden wins two awards". The Globe and Mail, September 15, 1997.
  4. "Last Night, No, take top prizes at fest". Hamilton Spectator, September 21, 1998.
  5. "Hollywood and Toronto big festival winners". Nanaimo Daily News, September 20, 1999.
  6. "Toronto International Film Festival: Ang Lee, Burns win top prizes". The Globe and Mail, September 18, 2000.
  7. "Romance, myth and Winnipeg take top honours". The Globe and Mail, September 17, 2001.
  8. "Cronenberg's Spider big winner at film fest". Sudbury Star, September 16, 2002.
  9. "Canadian movies shine at film fest gala". Sherbrooke Record, September 16, 2003.
  10. "Hotel Rwanda wins top festival prize". The Globe and Mail, September 20, 2004.
  11. "Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico takes mocking look at country troubadour". Canadian Press, November 7, 2005.
  12. "Winners a list of surprises". The Globe and Mail, September 18, 2006.
  13. "Toronto film fest's people's choice award stays home". Vancouver Sun, September 17, 2007.
  14. "Slumdog takes the people's prize; LeBron James documentary tapped as runner-up". Toronto Star, September 14, 2008.
  15. "It's a wrap for TIFF; Film 'Precious' nabs audience prize at festival, stoking Oscar predictions". Telegraph-Journal, September 21, 2009.
  16. "King's Speech persuades TIFF audience". The Globe and Mail, September 20, 2010.
  17. "The people choose a surprise: Small Lebanese film triumphs over rivals with higher profiles". Toronto Star, September 19, 2011.
  18. Chris Knight, "Lebanese film wins TIFF's top prize; Starbuck is People's Choice runner-up". National Post, September 19, 2011.
  19. http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/136807-chester-filmmaker-wins-tiff-award-for-blackbird "Chester filmmaker wins TIFF award for Blackbird"
  20. https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/tiff/2013/09/15/tiff_2013_12_years_a_slave_wins_top_prize_at_film_fest.html "TIFF 2013: 12 Years a Slave wins film fest’s top prize"
  21. http://www.thewrap.com/the-imitation-game-wins-toronto-audience-award/ "‘The Imitation Game’ Wins Toronto Audience Award"
  22. https://variety.com/2015/film/in-contention/room-toronto-film-festival-peoples-choice-award-1201597671/ "‘Room’ Wins Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award"
  23. http://www.ew.com/article/2016/09/18/2016-TIFF-Peoples-Choice-winner "TIFF People's Choice Award cements La La Land's place in Oscar race"
  24. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/toronto-three-billboards-ebbing-missouri-captures-audience-award-1039727 "Toronto: 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' Captures Audience Award"
  25. https://www.screendaily.com/news/green-book-boosts-awards-season-prospects-with-tiff-audience-award-win/5132687.article "'Green Book' boosts awards season prospects with TIFF audience award win"
  26. Etan Vlessing, "Toronto: Taika Waititi's 'Jojo Rabbit' Wins Audience Award". The Hollywood Reporter, September 15, 2019.
  27. Steve Pond, "‘The Life of Chuck’ Wins Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award". TheWrap, September 15, 2024.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Toronto International Film Festival Best Canadian Discovery Award".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.