List of Vancouver International Film Festival award winners

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (January 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The following is a list of Vancouver International Film Festival award winners.

Award winners by year[]

2002[]

• Most Popular International Film: Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore
• Most Popular Canadian Film: Expecting by Deborah Day and FIX: The Story of an Addicted City by Nettie Wild
• National Film Board Award for Best Documentary: Gambling, Gods and LSD by Peter Mettler

2003[]

• Most Popular International Film: Kamchatka by Marcelo Piñeyro
• Most Popular Canadian Film: The Corporation by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott
• National Film Board Award for Best Documentary: Los Angeles Plays Itself by Thom Andersen

2004[]

• Most Popular International Film: Machuca by Andrés Wood
• Most Popular Canadian Film: What Remains of Us by François Prévost and Hugo Latulippe and Being Caribou by Leanne Allison and Diana Wilson
• National Film Board Award for Best Documentary: In the Realms of the Unreal by Jessica Yu
• Best Young Canadian Director of a Short Film: Jennifer Calvert for Riverburn

2005[]

• Most Popular International Film: Go, See, and Become by Radu Mihăileanu
• Most Popular Canadian Film: Eve and the Fire Horse by Julia Kwan
• National Film Board Award for Best Documentary: A Particular Silence by Stefano Rulli

2006[]

• Most Popular International Film: The Lives of Others by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
• Most Popular Canadian Film: Mystic Ball by Greg Hamilton
• National Film Board Award for Best Documentary: Have You Heard From Johannesburg? by Connie Field
• Special Jury Prize: Radiant City by Gary Burns and Jim Brown^[1]

2007[]

• Vancity People's Choice Award for Most Popular Canadian Film: She's a Boy I Knew directed by Gwen Haworth
• Rogers People's Choice Award for Most Popular International Film: Persepolis directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
• People's Choice Award for Most Popular International Nonfiction Film: Garbage Warrior directed by Oliver Hodge
• Kyoto Planet "Climate for Change" Award: The Planet directed by Johan Söderberg, Michael Stenberg, and Linus Torell
• Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema: shared by Fujian Blue directed by Weng Shouming (Robin Weng) and Mid-Afternoon Barks directed by Zhang Yuedong
• Citytv Western Canadian Feature Film Award: Normal directed by Carl Bessai
• National Film Board of Canada Best Canadian Documentary Feature Award: Up the Yangtze directed by Yung Chang
• Women In Film and Television Vancouver Artistic Merit Award: She's a Boy I Knew directed by Gwen Haworth
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film: The Windfisherman directed by Anna McRoberts

2008[]

• Citytv Western Canada Feature Film Award: Fifty Dead Men Walking directed by Kari Skogland
• VIFF Nonfiction Feature Award: Born Without directed by Eva Norvind
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film: The Valet directed by Drew McCreadie
• Women in Film & Television Vancouver Artistic Merit Award: Mothers & Daughters awarded to Tantoo Cardinal
• International Film Guide Inspiration Award: Control Alt Delete directed by Cameron Labine
• Rogers People's Choice Award: I've Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime) directed by Philippe Claudel
• documentary Audience Award: Throw Down Your Heart directed by Sascha Paladino
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Film Award: Mothers & Daughters directed by Carl Bessai
• National Film Board's Most Popular Canadian Documentary Award: Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action directed by Velcrow Ripper
• VIFF Environmental Film Audience Award: Blue Gold: World Water Wars directed by Sam Bozzo
• Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema: Perfect Life directed by Emily Tang

2009[]

• Canwest Award for Best Canadian Feature Film I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) directed by Xavier Dolan
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film: The Last Act directed by Jan Binsse and David Tougas
• Women in Film & Television Vancouver Artistic Merit Award: 65 Redroses directed and produced by Nimisha Mukerji and Gillian Lowry
• Rogers People's Choice Award: Soundtrack for a Revolution directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman
• documentary Audience Award for Most Popular Nonfiction Film: Facing Ali directed by Pete McCormack
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Film Award: 65 Redroses by Nimisha Mukerji & Philip Lyall
• National Film Board's Most Popular Canadian Documentary Award: 65 Redroses by Nimisha Mukerji & Philip Lyall
• VIFF Environmental Film Audience Award: At the Edge of the World directed by Dan Stone
• Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema: Eighteen directed by Jang Kun-jae^[2]

2010[]

• ET Canada Award for Best Canadian Feature Film Incendies directed by Denis Villeneuve
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film Mokhtar, directed by Halima Ouardiri
• Rogers People's Choice Award Waste Land (UK, Brazil), directed by Lucy Walker
• VIFF Most Popular Nonfiction Film Award, Kinshasa Symphony (Germany), directed by Claus Wischmann and Martin Baer
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Film Award, Two Indians Talking, directed by Sara McIntyre
• NFB Most Popular Canadian Documentary Award, Leave Them Laughing, directed by John Zaritsky
• VIFF Environmental Film Audience Award, Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie (Canada), directed by Sturla Gunnarsson
• Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema, Good Morning To The World (Japan), directed by Hirohara Satoru

2011[]

• Shaw Media Award for Best Canadian Feature Film ($20,000 prize) – Nuit #1, Anne Émond (Canada)
• Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema, presented by Brad Birarda & Robert Sali ($10,000 prize) – The Sun Beaten Path, Sonthar Gyal (China)
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film Award ($2,000 prize) – We Ate the Children Last, Andrew Cividino (Canada)
• Rogers People's Choice Award – A Separation, Asghar Farhadi (Iran)
• VIFF Most Popular Nonfiction Film Award – Sing Your Song, Susanne Rostock (USA)
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Film Award – Starbuck, Ken Scott (Canada)
• NFB Most Popular Canadian Documentary Award – Peace Out, Charles Wilkinson (Canada)
• VIFF Environmental Film Audience Award – People of a Feather, Joel Heath (Canada)

2012[]

• Award for Best Canadian Feature Film ($10,000 prize) – Blackbird, Jason Buxton (Canada)
• Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema, presented by Brad Birarda ($5,000 prize) – Emperor Visits The Hell (Tang Huang You Difu), Li Luo (China)
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film Award ($2,000 prize) – Float, Juan Riedinger (Canada)
• Rogers People's Choice Award – The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg (Denmark)
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Film Award – Becoming Redwood, Jesse James Miller (Canada)
• NFB Most Popular Canadian Documentary Award – Blood Relative, Nimisha Mukerji (Canada)
• VIFF Most Popular International Documentary Film Award – Nuala, Patrick Farrelly and Kate O'Callaghan (Ireland)
• VIFF Environmental Film Audience Award – Revolution, Rob Stewart (Canada)
• VIFF Most Popular International First Feature Award – I, Anna, Barnaby Southcombe (UK)
• Women in Film & Television Vancouver Artistic Merit Award: Liverpool directed and written by Manon Briand

2013[]

• Award for Best Canadian Feature Film ($5,000 prize each) – Rhymes for Young Ghouls, Jeff Barnaby (Canada) and That Burning Feeling, Jason James (Canada)
• Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema, presented by Brad Birarda ($5,000 prize) – Anatomy of a Paperclip, Ikeda Akira (Japan)
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film Award ($2,000 prize) – Nathan, Mathieu Arsenault (Canada)
• Rogers People's Choice Award – Like Father, Like Son, Koreeda Hirokazu (Japan)
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Film Award – Down River, Benjamin Ratner (Canada)
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Documentary Award – When I Walk, Jason DaSilva (Canada)
• VIFF Most Popular International Documentary Film Award – Desert Runners, (USA)
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Environmental Documentary Award – Salmon Confidential, Twyla Roscovich (Canada)
• VIFF Most Popular International First Feature Award – Wadjda, Haifaa al-Mansour (Germany, Saudi Arabia)
• Women in Film & Television Vancouver Artistic Merit Award: Sarah Prefers to Run directed and written by Chloé Robichaud

2014[]

• Award for Best Canadian Film ($8,000 prize) – Violent, Andrew Huculiak (Canada)
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film Award – The Cut, Geneviève Dulude-De Celles (Canada)
• Rogers People's Choice Award – The Vancouver Asahi, Ishii Yuya (Japan)
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Film Award – Preggoland, Jacob Tierney (Canada)
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Documentary Award – All the Time in the World, Suzanne Crocker (Canada)
• VIFF Most Popular International Documentary Film Award – Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me, James Keach (USA)
• VIFF BC Emerging Filmmaker Award – Sitting on the Edge of Marlene, Ana Valine (Canada)
• VIFF Best BC Film Award – Violent, Andrew Huculiak (Canada)
• VIFF Impact Award – Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story, Grant Baldwin (Canada)
• VIFF Best New Director (international) – Miss and the Doctors, Axelle Ropert (France) and Rekorder, Mikhail Red (Philippines)
• Women in Film & Television Vancouver Artistic Merit Award – Sitting on the Edge of Marlene, Ana Valine

2015[]

The 34th annual Vancouver International Film Festival was held from September 24 to October 9, 2015. The VIFF Industry Conference – the premier media conference in Western Canada – runs from September 30 to October 3, 2015.

• Rogers People's Choice Award – Brooklyn, John Crowley (UK, Ireland, Canada)
• VIFF Most Popular International Documentary – Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (Jag är Ingrid), Stig Björkman (Sweden)
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Feature – Room, Lenny Abrahamson (Ireland, Canada)
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Documentary – Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World, Charles Wilkinson (Canada)
• VIFF Impact: International Audience Award – Landfill Harmonic, Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley (USA, Paraguay)
• VIFF Impact: Canadian Audience Award – Fractured Land, and (Canada)
• Women in Film+Television Artistic Merit Award – Ninth Floor, Mina Shum (Canada)^[3]

2016[]

The 35th annual Vancouver International Film Festival was held from September 29 to October 14, 2016.^[4]

• Ignite Award – Cabbie, Jessica Parsons and Jennifer Chiu (Canada)
• Best BC Short Film Award – Here Nor There, Julia Hutchings (Canada)
• Best BC Film Award – Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming), Ann Marie Fleming (Canada)
• BC Emerging Filmmaker Award – Hello Destroyer, Kevan Funk (Canada)
• Best Canadian Film – Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming), Ann Marie Fleming (Canada)
• Best Canadian Short Film – Those Who Remain (Ceux qui restent), Mathieu Vachon (Canada)
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film – Parent, Teacher, Roman Tchjen (Canada)
• Emerging Canadian Director – Never Eat Alone, Sofia Bohdanowicz (Canada)
• Best Canadian Documentary – Living With Giants (Chez les géants), Sebastien Rist and Aude Leroux-Lévesque (Canada)
• VIFF IMPACT Award – Power to Change: The Energy Rebellion (Power to Change – Die Energie Rebellion), Carl-A. Fechner (Germany)
• VIFF Super Channel People's Choice Award – Maudie, Aisling Walsh (Canada, Ireland)
• Most Popular International Feature – I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach (United Kingdom, France, Belgium)
• Most Popular International Documentary – Human, Yann Arthus-Bertrand (France)
• Most Popular Canadian Documentary – Spirit Unforgettable, Pete McCormack (Canada)

2017[]

The 36th annual Vancouver International Film Festival was held from September 28 to October 13, 2017^[5]

BC Spotlight Awards

• Sea to Sky Award – Never Steady, Never Still, Kathleen Hepburn
• Best BC Film Award – Luk'Luk'I, Wayne Wapeemukwa
• BC Emerging Filmmaker Award – Kathleen Hepburn (Never Steady, Never Still)

Canadian Awards

• Best Canadian Film – Black Cop, Cory Bowles
• Emerging Canadian Director – Kathleen Hepburn (Never Steady, Never Still)
• Best Canadian Documentary – Unarmed Verses, Charles Officer
• Best BC Short Film – Rupture, Yassmina Karajah
• Best Canadian Short Film – Shadow Nettes, Phillip Barker
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film – Vincent Toi (The Crying Conch)

Impact Awards

• VIFF Impact Award – BLUE, Karina Holden

Audience Awards

• Super Channel People's Choice Award – Indian Horse, Stephen Campanelli
• VIFF Most Popular International Feature – Loving Vincent, Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman (Poland, UK)
• VIFF Most Popular International Documentary – Faces Places, Agnès Varda, JR (France)
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Documentary – Shut Up and Say Something, Melanie Wood
• #mustseebc – Shut Up and Say Something, Melanie Wood

2018[]

The 37th annual Vancouver International Film Festival was held from September 27 to October 12, 2018.

BC Spotlight Awards

• Sea to Sky Award – Broken Bunny by Meredith Hama-Brown
• Best BC Film Award – Edge of the Knife, Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown
• BC Emerging Filmmaker Award – Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, Freaks
• Best BC Short Film – Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes), Amanda Strong

Canadian Awards

• Best Canadian Film – Edge of the Knife by Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown
• Emerging Canadian Director – Sean Devlin for When the Storm Fades
• Best Canadian Documentary – The Museum of Forgotten Triumphs by Bojan Bodružić
• Best Canadian Short Film – Fauve by Jérémy Comte
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film – Claire Edmondson for EXIT

Impact Awards

• VIFF Impact Award – The Devil We Know by Stephanie Soechtig

Audience Awards

• Super Channel People's Choice Award – Finding Big Country by Kathleen Jayme
• VIFF Most Popular International Feature – Shoplifters by Kore-eda Hirokazu
• VIFF Most Popular International Documentary – Bathtubs Over Broadway by Dava Whisenant
• VIFF Most Popular Canadian Feature – Edge of the Knife by Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown
• #mustseebc – Finding Big Country, Kathleen Jayme

Sustainable Production Excellence Awards

• Sustainable Production Impact - X-Files, season 11
• Sustainable Production Champion - Keep it Green Recycling (Kelsey Evans); Portable Electric (Mark Rabin); Clara George; Ronny Fritsch

2019[]

The 38th annual Vancouver International Film Festival was held from September 26 to October 11, 2019.^[6]

BC Spotlight Awards

• Sea to Sky Award – Ying Wang for The World Is Bright
• Best BC Film Award – The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn
• BC Emerging Filmmaker Award – Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers for The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open

Canadian Awards

• Best Canadian Film – One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk by Zacharias Kunuk
  • Special Mention: Blood Quantum by Jeff Barnaby
• Emerging Canadian Director – Heather Young for Murmur
  • Special Mention: Myriam Verreault for Kuessipan
• Best Canadian Documentary – Jordan River Anderson, the Messenger by Alanis Obomsawin
  • Special Mention: My Dads, My Moms and Me by Julia Ivanova
• Best Canadian Short Film – At the Bottom of the Sea by Caroline So Jung Lee
  • Special Mention: The Physics of Sorrow by Theodore Ushev
• Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film: Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau and Yannick Nolin for Acadiana
  • Special Mention: Jessica Johnson, Ryan Ermacora for Labour/Leisure

Impact Awards

• VIFF Impact Award: Resistance Fighters by
• Rob Stewart Eco Warrior Award: by Peter Nelson^[7]

Audience Awards

• People's Choice — Parasite by Bong Joon-ho
• Most Popular Canadian Film — Red Snow by Marie Clements
• Most Popular Canadian Documentary — Haida Modern by Charles Wilkinson^[7]
• Most Popular International Documentary — Coup 53 by Taghi Amirani

2020[]

The 39th annual Vancouver International Film Festival was held from September 24 to October 7, 2020.^[8]

BC Spotlight Awards

• Sea to Sky Award — Banchi Hanuse for
• Best BC Film Award — The Curse of Willow Song by Karen Lam
• BC Emerging Filmmaker Award — Jessie Anthony for Brother, I Cry
• Best BC Short Film — Cake Day by Phillip Thomas

Canadian Awards

• Best Canadian Film — Beans by Tracey Deer
  • Special Mention — Nadia, Butterfly by Pascal Plante

• Emerging Canadian Director — Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli for Violation
• Best Canadian Documentary — Call Me Human by Kim O'Bomsawin
  • Special Mention — Prayer for a Lost Mitten by Jean-François Lesage

• Best Canadian Short Film — Bad Omen by Salar Pashtoonyar
  • Special Mention — Moon by

International Awards

• VIFF Impact Award — The Reason I Jump by Jerry Rothwell

• Rob Stewart Eco Warrior Award — Peter Wohlleben, subject of The Hidden Life of Trees

VIFF Immersed Awards

• Best in Cinematic Live-Action — by Alexey Marfin
• Best in Documentary — By the Waters of Babylon by Kristen Lauth Shaeffer and Andrew Halasz
• Best in Animation — The Book of Distance by Randall Okita
• Honorable Mention in Animation — In the Land of Flabby Schnook by Francis Gélinas
• Audience Award — Ecosphere: Raja Ampat by Joseph Purdam

VIFF Immersed Volumetric Market (Microsoft Mixed Reality Capture Studios Special Prize)

• A Vocal Landscape by Omid Zarei and Anne Jeppesen
• Uninterrupted by Nettie Wild and Rae Hull

2021[]

The 40th annual Vancouver International Film Festival was held from October 1 to October 11, 2021.^[9][10]

BC Spotlight Awards

• Best BC Film — Handle With Care: The Legend of the Notic Streetball Crew by Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux, Kirk Thomas
• BC Emerging Filmmaker Award — Portraits From a Fire by Trevor Mack
• Best BC Short Film — The Horses (Liz Cairns)

Canadian Awards

• Best Canadian Film — Without Havana by Kaveh Nabatian

• Emerging Canadian Director — Caroline Monnet for Bootlegger
• Best Canadian Documentary — Returning Home by Sean Stiller
• Best Canadian Short Film — Together by Albert Shin

International Awards

• Impact Award — Blue Box (Michal Weits)
• Rob Steward Eco Warrior Award — Coextinction (Gloria Pancrazi, Elena Jean)

VIFF Immersed Awards

• Cinematic Live Action — Symphony (Igor Cortadellas)
• Documentary — Inside COVID19 (Gary Yost, Adam Loften)
• Augmented Reality — Mission to Mars AR (Piotr Baczyński, Bartosz Rosłoński)
• Animation — Beat (Keisuke Itoh)
• VeeR Audience Award — Red Eyes (Sngmoo Lee)
• XR Market Grant — Memory Place (Zeynep Abes)

Award winners by award[]

Best Canadian Film[]

• 2007 (sponsored by Citytv Western Canada) — Normal directed by Carl Bessai
• 2008 (Citytv Western Canada) — Fifty Dead Men Walking by Kari Skogland
• 2009 (Canwest) — I Killed My Mother (French: J'ai tué ma mère) by Xavier Dolan
• 2010 (ET Canada) — Incendies by Denis Villeneuve
• 2011 (Shaw Media, $20,000 prize) — Nuit #1 by Anne Émond
• 2012 ($10,000 prize) — Blackbird by Jason Buxton
• 2013 ($5,000 prize each) — Rhymes for Young Ghouls by Jeff Barnaby and by Jason James
• 2014 ($8,000 prize) — Violent by Andrew Huculiak
• 2016 — Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming), Ann Marie Fleming (Canada)
• 2017 — Black Cop, Cory Bowles
• 2018 — Edge of the Knife by Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown
• 2019 — One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk by Zacharias Kunuk
• 2020 — Beans by Tracey Deer
• 2021 — Without Havana by Kaveh Nabatian

Most Popular Canadian Film[]

Most Popular Canadian Film

• 2002 — Expecting directed by Deborah Day and FIX: The Story of an Addicted City by Nettie Wild
• 2003 — The Corporation by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott
• 2004 — What Remains of Us by François Prévost and Hugo Latulippe and Being Caribou by Leanne Allison and Diana Wilson
• 2005 — Eve and the Fire Horse by Julia Kwan
• 2006 — Mystic Ball by Greg Hamilton

Vancity People's Choice Award for Most Popular Canadian Film

• 2007 — She's a Boy I Knew by Gwen Haworth

VIFF Most Popular Canadian Film Award

• 2008 — Mothers & Daughters by Carl Bessai
• 2009 — 65 Redroses by Nimisha Mukerji and Philip Lyall
• 2010 — Two Indians Talking by Sara McIntyre
• 2011 — Starbuck by Ken Scott
• 2012 — Becoming Redwood by Jesse James Miller
• 2013 — Down River by Benjamin Ratner
• 2014 — Preggoland by Jacob Tierney
• 2015 — Room by Lenny Abrahamson (Ireland, Canada)
• 2018 (VIFF Most Popular Canadian Feature) — Edge of the Knife by Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown
• 2019 (Most Popular Canadian Film) — Red Snow by Marie Clements

Most Popular International Film[]

Most Popular International Film

• 2002 — Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore
• 2003 — Kamchatka by Marcelo Piñeyro
• 2004 — Machuca by Andrés Wood
• 2005 — Go, See, and Become by Radu Mihăileanu
• 2006 — The Lives of Others by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Rogers People's Choice Award for Most Popular International Film

• 2007 — Persepolis directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud

VIFF Most Popular International First Feature Award

• 2012 — I, Anna by Barnaby Southcombe (UK)
• 2013 — Wadjda by Haifaa al-Mansour (Germany, Saudi Arabia)
• 2016 (Most Popular International Feature) — I, Daniel Blake by Ken Loach (United Kingdom, France, Belgium)
• 2017 — Loving Vincent by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman (Poland, UK)
• 2018 — Shoplifters by Kore-eda Hirokazu

References[]