Rob Stewart Award

The Rob Stewart Award, formerly known as the Gemini/Canadian Screen Award for Best Science or Nature Documentary Program, is a Canadian television award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to honour the year's best television documentary on a scientific or nature topic. Formerly presented as part of the Gemini Awards, since 2013 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards. The award is open to both standalone documentary films and relevant episodes of television documentary series; in particular, episodes of the CBC Television documentary series The Nature of Things have frequently been nominees for or winners of the award.

The award was renamed to its current name in 2017 in memory of Rob Stewart, an influential Canadian director of science and nature documentary films who died in January 2017.^[1]

Nominees and winners[]

1990s[]

Year	Nominee	Film
1995 10th Gemini Awards
	Epilepsy: The Centre of Her Storms	,
	Cyberwars: Binary Groove	,
	Forbidden Places: "Silent Witness"
	Forbidden Places: "Zone of Separation"
	Whisper in the Air	, , Tom Perlmutter
1996 11th Gemini Awards
	Ebola: Inside an Outbreak	, Simcha Jacobovici, Ric Esther Bienstock
	Heart of the People	Peter von Puttkamer,
	In My Own Time: Diary of a Cancer Patient	, ,
	The Living Tides of Fundy
	The Nature of Things: "Food or Famine"
1997 12th Gemini Awards
	Separate Lives
	Forbidden Places: "Wildkill"
	Journeys: "Volcano"	,
	Life and Times: "Roberta Bondar, Lone Star"
	Secrets of the Choco
	The Empty Net
1998 13th Gemini Awards
	Before Their Time	Rudy Buttignol, ,
	Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve
	Superbugs
	The Monarch: A Butterfly Beyond Borders	,
	Witness: "Quake Hunters"
1999 14th Gemini Awards
	My Healing Journey: Seven Years with Cancer
	Baboon Tales	,
	The Nature of Things: "Up Close and Personal"
	The Pill
	Walking with Grizzlies

2000s[]

Year	Nominee	Film
2000 15th Gemini Awards
	After Darwin
	Edge of Extinction: Saving the Leatherback Sea Turtle	, , ,
	Tatshenshini-Alsek Park: Heart of the Wilderness	,
	The Nature of Things: "Parkinson's: Lynda's Story"
	The Secret World of Gardens
2001 16th Gemini Awards
	The Nature of Things: Nuclear Dynamite"	Selwyn Jacob, ,
	Criminal Evidence	, Simcha Jacobovici, , Jack Rabinovitch,
	Echoes of the North	, Stephen Ellis
	Insectia: Outlaws	, , ,
	Movers, Not Shakers	David Langer, Laszlo Barna, Sam Grana,
	The Nature of Things: "The Salmon Forest"
2002 17th Gemini Awards
	The Secret World of Gardens: "Frogs"
	Bushmeat	,
	The Cold Embrace	,
	The Parkinson's Enigma	,
	The Nature of Things: "Touch: The Forgotten Sense"	Roger Frappier,
2003 18th Gemini Awards
	The Nature of Things: "The Investigation of Swiss Air Flight 111"	, ,
	Life's a Twitch	, , Rudy Buttignol
	Oh Baby! To Walk	Stephen Ellis,
	The Nature of Things: "Up Close and Toxic"	,
	The Surgeons: "Dr. Rao"	, ,
2004 19th Gemini Awards
	Suzuki Speaks	,
	The Eye of the Son	, , Rudy Buttignol
	The Nature of Things: "Corporate Agriculture: The Hollow Men"	,
	The Secret World of Gardens: "Garden Mimics"
	Sex, Drugs and Middle Age
2005 20th Gemini Awards
	The Origins of AIDS	, , ,
	A Day Inside: Calgary Stampede	,
	Diet of Souls
	The Nature of Things: "Clot Busters"	,
	The Nature of Things: "Sex Lies and Secrecy: Dissecting Hysterectomy"	,
2006 21st Gemini Awards
	The Nature of Things: "Being Caribou"	,
	The Fifth Estate: "Black Dawn"	Douglas Arrowsmith, , ,
	How William Shatner Changed the World	,
	Lifelike
	The Nature of Things: "Nature Bites Back: The Case of the Sea Otter"
2007 22nd Gemini Awards
	Gamer Revolution	,
	Spam: The Documentary	, , ,
	There's Something Out There: A Bigfoot Encounter
	Tsepong: A Clinic Called Hope	Peter Raymont
	The Wayfinders	, , Wade Davis
2008 23rd Gemini Awards
	Battle of the Bag	,
	Four Wings and a Prayer	Michael McMahon, , , ,
	Hubble's Canvas	,
	Long Haul Big Hearts	, ,
	The Refugees of the Blue Planet	, , ,
2009 24th Gemini Awards
	The Disappearing Male	,
	The Body Machine	,
	Mighty Ships: "Resolute"	, ,
	The Musical Brain
	Secrets of the Dinosaur Mummy	Michael Jorgensen,

2010s[]

Year	Film	Filmmakers
2010 25th Gemini Awards
	The Great Sperm Race	David Brady,
	The Nature of Things: "A Murder of Crows"
	The Nature of Things: "One Ocean: Mysteries of the Deep"	, ,
	The Plastic Fantastic Brain: Total Recall and the Spotless Mind	,
	The Quantum Tamers: Revealing our Weird and Wired Future	Derek Diorio, John Matlock,
2011 26th Gemini Awards
	The Nature of Things: "Code Breakers"	Niobe Thompson, Tom Radford
	Acquainted with the Night	,
	The Nature of Things: "For the Love of Elephants"	,
	Last Day of the Dinosaurs	, ,
	X-Cars	,
2012 1st Canadian Screen Awards
	The Nature of Things: "Polar Bears: A Summer Odyssey"	,
	Descending	,
	The Nature of Things: "The Perfect Runner"	Niobe Thompson, Tom Radford
	The Nature of Things: "Smarty Plants: Uncovering the Secret World of Plant Behavior"
		, ,
2013 2nd Canadian Screen Awards
		,
	The Nature of Things: "The Beaver Whisperers"
	The Nature of Things: "Lights Out!"	,
	Doc Zone: "Wind Rush"	,
2014 3rd Canadian Screen Awards
	The Nature of Things: "Invasion of the Brain Snatchers"	, Mike Downie, ,
		,

	Wild Canada	,
	Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan	David Brady, , Dominic Monaghan, Philip Clarke
2015 4th Canadian Screen Awards
	The Nature of Things: "The Great Human Odyssey"	Niobe Thompson

	The Nature of Things: "The Cholesterol Question"	Aaron Hancox, ,
	The Nature of Things: "Gorilla Doctors"	,
		Jonathan Barker, ,
2016 5th Canadian Screen Awards
	The Nature of Things: "Moose: A Year in the Life of a Twig Eater"
	Kenya Wildlife Diaries	,
	The Nature of Things: "My Brain Made Me Do It"	,
	The Nature of Things: "Trapped in a Human Zoo"	,
	Volcanic Odysseys	,
2017 6th Canadian Screen Awards
	The Nature of Things: "The Wild Canadian Year"	, ,
		,
	The Nature of Things: "The Great Wild Indoors"	, , Roberto Verdecchia
	The Nature of Things: "Running on Empty: Surviving California's Epic Drought"	Mike Downie,
		Jonathan Barker, ,
2018^[2] 7th Canadian Screen Awards
	The Nature of Things: "Equus: Story of the Horse"	Niobe Thompson,
	The Nature of Things: "Into the Fire"	,
	The Nature of Things: "The Kingdom: How Fungi Made our World"	,
	The Nature of Things: "Mommy Wildest"	, Mark Starowicz
	Over the Horizon	, ,
2019 8th Canadian Screen Awards
	The Nature of Things: "A Day in the Life of Earth"	Elliott Halpern, Elizabeth Trojian
		Kevin McMahon, Michael McMahon, Kristina McLaughlin
	The Nature of Things: "The Genetic Revolution"	Elliott Halpern, Elizabeth Trojian
	The Nature of Things: "Remarkable Rabbits"	Susan Fleming
	The Nature of Things: "Turtle Beach"	Merit Jensen Carr

2020s[]

Year	Film	Filmmakers	Ref
2020 9th Canadian Screen Awards
	The Nature of Things: "Takaya: Lone Wolf"	André Barro, Martin Williams, Cheryl Alexander, Bruce Whitty, Kim Bondi, Gaby Bastyra	^[3]
	The Nature of Things: "Be Afraid: The Science of Fear"	Gordon Henderson, Stuart Henderson, Rita Kotzia	^[4]
	The Nature of Things: "Pass the Salt"	Judy Holm, Michael McNamara, Aaron Hancox
	The Nature of Things: "She Walks with Apes"	Mark Starowicz, Caitlin Starowicz
	Striking Balance	Yvonne Drebert
2021 10th Canadian Screen Awards
		Kevin McMahon, Michael McMahon, Kristina McLaughlin, Justine Pimlott, Felicity Justrabo	^[5]
	The Nature of Things: "Inside The Great Vaccine Race"	Dugald Maudsley, Gillian Main
	The Nature of Things: "Kids vs. Screens"	Leora Eisen, Jackie Carlos, Diana Warmé
	The Nature of Things: "Kingdom of the Polar Bears"	Merit Jensen Carr, Sally Blake, Patrice Lorton
	The Nature of Things: "The Last Walrus"	Nathalie Bibeau, Frederic Bohbot

References[]

^ "Rob Stewart honored at Canadian Screen Awards". Tribute, March 13, 2017.
^ "Gord Downie's Secret Path, Amazing Race and CBC News among Canadian Screen Awards winners". CBC News, March 26, 2019.
^ Kim Izzo, "Canadian Screen Award winners for non-fiction categories revealed". RealScreen, May 17, 2021.
^ Brent Furdyk, "Television Nominees Announced For 2021 Canadian Screen Awards, ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Leads The Pack With 21 Nominations". ET Canada, March 30, 2021.
^ Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022.

[1] "Rob Stewart honored at Canadian Screen Awards". Tribute, March 13, 2017.

[2] "Gord Downie's Secret Path, Amazing Race and CBC News among Canadian Screen Awards winners". CBC News, March 26, 2019.

[3] Kim Izzo, "Canadian Screen Award winners for non-fiction categories revealed". RealScreen, May 17, 2021.

[4] Brent Furdyk, "Television Nominees Announced For 2021 Canadian Screen Awards, ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Leads The Pack With 21 Nominations". ET Canada, March 30, 2021.

[5] Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t Canadian Screen Awards
By year	2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Canadian Film Awards (film, 1949–1978)	1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 ~~1974~~ 1975 1976 1977 1978
Genie Awards (film, 1979–2012)	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990/91 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Gemini Awards (television, 1986–2012)	1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Film awards by category	Motion Picture Actor Actress Supporting Actor Supporting Actress Director Animated Short Art Direction and Production Design Casting Cinematography Cinematography in a Documentary Costume Design Editing Editing in a Documentary Feature Length Documentary Hair Live Action Short Makeup Original Score Original Song Screenplay (Original and Adapted) Short Documentary Sound Editing Sound Mixing Stunt Coordination Visual Effects Golden Screen John Dunning Best First Feature Award
Television awards by category	Comedy Series Drama Series TV Movie Children's or Youth Fiction Series Children's or Youth Non-Fiction Series Pre-School Series Reality/Competition Series Lead Actor, Comedy Lead Actor, Drama Lead Actress, Comedy Lead Actress, Drama Supporting Actor, Comedy Supporting Actor, Drama Supporting Actress, Comedy Supporting Actress, Drama Direction, Children's or Youth Performance, Children's or Youth Writing, Children's or Youth Casting Academy Achievement Award Donald Brittain Award Earle Grey Award Gordon Sinclair Award Margaret Collier Award Rob Stewart Award
Discontinued awards	Bijou Awards (1981) Best Actor - Non-Feature (1969–81) Best Actress - Non-Feature (1969–81) Foreign Actor (1980–83) Foreign Actress (1980–83) Theatrical Short (1949–96) Children's or Youth Program (1986-2002) Host, Children's or Youth Program (2008-2016) Special Achievement Wendy Michener Award (1969-1978) Diversity Award (1992-2016)
Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television Note: Awards by year articles are listed here by the year of eligibility for nomination; due to variable scheduling of the ceremonies, this is not always the same year in which the awards were presented.