John Dunning Best First Feature Award
The John Dunning Best First Feature Award is a special
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), Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, 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
Prix Jutra ceremonies on the same day.[4]
Beginning with the
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
Best First Feature
| Year | Film | Director | 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
| Year | Film | Director | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 4th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| Mina Walking | Yosef Baraki | [14] | |
| 2016 5th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| The Lockpicker | Randall Okita | [15] | |
| 2017 6th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| Black Cop | Cory Bowles | [16] | |
| The Devout | Connor Gaston | [17] | |
| Wexford Plaza | Joyce Wong |
John Dunning Best First Feature Award
See also
- Prix Iris for Best First Film
- Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Claude Jutra Award, The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- ISBN 978-0-7876-1501-7.
- ISBN 0-7737-3238-1. pp. 199-203.
- ^ a b "Claude Jutra's name to be pulled from Quebec film awards" Archived March 1, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Ottawa Citizen, February 17, 2016.
- ^ "Canadian Screen Awards leave Hollywood behind". The Globe and Mail, January 16, 2018.
- ^ "Incendies, Barney's Version dominate Genies". CBC News, March 10, 2011.
- ^ "Quebec's Anne Émond wins debut director award". CBC News, February 22, 2012.
- ^ "Blackbird director Jason Buxton wins first-film honour". CBC News. January 29, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- ^ "Le Claude-Jutra à Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais". Le Devoir. January 23, 2014.
- ^ "Academy Names Claude Jutra Award Winner" Archived 2015-02-04 at the Wayback Machine. Broadcaster, February 3, 2015.
- ^ "Jamie M. Dagg wins Claude Jutra Award for Laos-set thriller River". CBC News, February 4, 2016.
- ^ "Ma's 'Old Stone' gets Canadian academy's Best First Feature award". CTV News, February 2, 2017.
- ^ "Sadaf Foroughi's 'Ava' wins best first feature film from Canadian Screen Awards". National Post, January 31, 2018.
- ^ "Mina Walking Honoured with Inaugural Discovery Award". Cision, January 19, 2016.
- ^ "Randall Okita to receive inaugural John Dunning Discovery Award". Playback, January 12, 2017.
- ^ "Northern Banner picks up Cory Bowles’ Black Cop". Playback, April 25, 2018.
- ^ Norman Wilner, "The Canadian Screen Awards showers love on (almost) everyone". Now, January 16, 2018.
- ^ Ici Radio-Canada, March 31, 2019.
- ^ "Filmmaker from Saint John wins Canadian Screen Award". CBC News New Brunswick, June 1, 2020.
- ^ Norman Wilner, "Canadian Screen Awards 2020: Prepare for a Schitt's show". Now, February 18, 2020.
- ^ Naman Ramachandran, "‘Schitt’s Creek,’ ‘Blood Quantum’ Triumph at Canadian Screen Awards". Variety, May 21, 2021.
- ET Canada. Archived from the originalon March 30, 2021.
- ^ "Night Raiders, Scarborough emerge victorious at 5th night of Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, April 8, 2022.
- ET Canada, February 15, 2022.
- ^ Jenna Benchetrit, "Brother dominates with a dozen wins on third night of Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, April 13, 2023.
- ^ Charles-Henri Ramond, "Écrans canadiens – Viking,13 nominations". Films du Québec, February 22, 2023.
- ^ Connie Thiessen, "Canadian Screen Awards winners: Cinematic Arts". Broadcast Dialogue, May 30, 2024.
- ^ "BlackBerry Leads CSA Nominations". Northern Stars, March 6, 2024.
- ^ Samritha Arunasalam, "Here's who is nominated for the 2025 Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, March 26, 2025.