Gear up to celebrate Canadian film, TV, and more
By Jerrison Oracion, Senior Columnist
The Canadian Screen Awards or the Candys are the biggest celebration of Canadian film and TV. Canadian content is starting to be seen more by the rest of the world, with shows such as Anne With an E and Kim’s Convenience reaching wider audiences thanks to Netflix. You might find a show in the streaming service that will be your next favourite program and you may not even realize that it is Canadian.
This year’s edition of the Canadian Screen Awards will be very interesting because the films and shows that are nominated this year show how Canadian content is doing today, and there were surprises in the TV categories.
The hosts of the Nominee Announcement show this year were Kim’s Convenience star Andrew Phung and actor-comedian Aisha Alfa. Phung is a perfect fit to host it because of his improv skills. Alfa has been in a lot of shows including Degrassi: The Next Generation. We got to see more of these two when they announced the nominations on February 7.
In film, the biggest surprise of the nominations this year is that all the films nominated for Best Film are from Québécois filmmakers, which shows that despite a few English-language Canadian films being released last year, not a lot of them stood out. The films in the running for Best Film this year are: Family First (Chien de garde), A Colony (Une colonie), The Great Darkened Days (La grande noirceur), Genesis (Genèse), and Just a Breath Away (Dans la brume). The teams behind The Great Darkened Days and Just a Breath Away both received the most nominations with eight each.
The Great Darkened Days is about a draft-dodging Québécois man exploring America, while Just a Breath Away is about a couple trying to find their daughter during a toxic fog in Paris. The only nominated film that I know, Genesis, is a nostalgic look of a group of secondary school students in 1990s Quebec.
In TV, last year’s winner for Best Drama Anne With an E received 15 nominations, including Best Actress in a Drama for Amybeth McNulty. Cardinal got the second-most nominations in this category at 14. Surprisingly, Frankie Drake Mysteries received five nominations, including Best Drama and Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for Sharron Matthews, who plays Flo.
In comedy, last year’s big winner Kim’s Convenience is not nominated this year because this season of the show aired past the nomination deadline. However, the show may still receive some recognition this year because Phung is nominated for the Audience Choice Award, and by the time you read this story you may still be able to vote. Amanda Brugel, another actress who appears in Kim’s Convenience, is also nominated for Best Guest Star Actress in a Comedy for Workin’ Moms. Schitt’s Creek received the most nominations for any comedy with 14 nominations. Schitt’s Creek, Letterkenny, Workin’ Moms, and Mr. D, which ended this season, are in the running for Best Comedy.
In news, the new version of The National earned the most nominations with 14, including Best Host of a Newscast for Rosemary Barton, Ian Hanomansing, Adrienne Arsenault, and Andrew Chang, and Best Host of a News Program for Barton and Arsenault.
The Canadian Screen Awards: Broadcast Gala airs March 31 at 8 pm on CBC.
