Awards for 2015
People's Choice Award
WINNER
IN-COMPETITION
Documentary
WINNER
IN-COMPETITION
Midnight Madness
WINNER
IN-COMPETITION
Discovery Award
WINNER
IN-COMPETITION
Best Canadian Feature Film
WINNER
Closet Monster: Stephen Dunn
"For its confidence and invention in tackling the pain and yearning of the first love and coming of age of a young gay man in Newfoundland, the jury recognizes the remarkable artistry and vision of first-time feature director Stephen Dunn for Closet Monster."
Best Canadian Feature Film - Special Jury Citation
WINNER
Best Canadian First Feature Film
WINNER
Sleeping Giant: Andrew Cividino
"For its sophisticated plotting, indelible characters and insightful critique of masculinity through a fateful rite of passage on the north shore of Lake Superior, the jury selects Sleeping Giant."
International Critics' Award (FIPRESCI)
Special Presentations
WINNER
Desierto: Jonás Cuarón
"For using pure cinema to create a strong physical sensation of being trapped in a vast space and hunted down by hatred in its most primal form, FIPRESCI presents the prize in the Special Presentations programme to Desierto by Jonás Cuarón."
Discovery
WINNER
Eva Nová: Marko Skop
"For exploring themes of humanity, dignity, addiction and redemption in a naturalistic, deceptively simple and non-exploitative manner, FIPRESCI is pleased to present the prize in the Discovery programme to Marko Skop's haunting debut feature Eva Nová."
NETPAC Award
WINNER
The Whispering Star: Sion Sono
"For its poetic, moving and brave attempt to express a grief that's inexpressible, combining all too real elements with lo-fi sci-fi, the NETPAC jury awards the prize to The Whispering Star."
Platform Prize
WINNER
Hurt: Alan Zweig
"Following a long discussion, the jury has chosen unanimously to give the Platform prize to HURT. It is a film that explores the complexity and fragility of human destiny in a country that much of the world sees as a paradise."
IN-COMPETITION
Platform Prize - Honorable Mention
WINNERS
Short Cuts Award
Best Film
WINNER
Maman(s): Maïmouna Doucouré,
Sokhna Diallo
"For its daring and revelatory exploration of a family's dysfunction and upheaval through the eyes of a child and its refusal to cast characters as villains but rather as complex, and highly conflicted, human beings the jury selects Maman(s). The jury also wanted to acknowledge the vulnerable, defiant performance of the gifted Sokhna Diallo."
Best Canadian Film
WINNER
Overpass: Patrice Laliberté
"For its seductive, elliptical and graceful manner of exploring the nature of grief and the unconventional ways that families react to loss, all of which was elevated by the performance of Téo Vachon Sincennes."
Short Cuts Award - Honorable Mention
Best Film
WINNER
Rate Me: Fyzal Boulifa
"For its blithely unconventional approach to new media and new mores, and a sense of humour as wry as it was rude."
Best Canadian Film
WINNER
Bacon & God's Wrath: Sol Friedman
"For its whimsical and wry examination of religious conviction and intellectual conversion, and the acknowledgment that courage and transformation can be achieved at any age and involve any manner of pork by-product."