The 2024 Canadian Screen Awards are an annual celebration of excellence in Canadian film that took place recently in Toronto Ontario. Awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (a valued partner of AIFF), each award recognizes artistic and technical merit within the film and television industry over the previous year. Many Atlantic International Film Festival movies are nominated every year, and this year was no different- AIFF extends a heartfelt congratulations to all the 2024 nominees and winners!
We are always thrilled to see AIFF alumni receive recognition from the industry- take a look below at which AIFF23 movies won at the CSAs, and discover where you can watch these award-winning AIFF alumni films tonight!
Best Original Screenplay
Ariane Louis-Seize, Christine Doyon
HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON (VAMPIRE HUMANISTE CHERCHE SUICIDAIRE CONSENTANT)
Sasha is a young vampire with a serious problem: she’s too sensitive to kill! Luckily, she meets Paul, a lonely teenager with suicidal tendencies who is willing to give his life to save hers. But their friendly agreement soon becomes a nocturnal quest to fulfill Paul’s last wishes before day breaks. With a witty screenplay and stellar young cast, Ariane Louis-Seize brings this deadpan horror comedy to life.
Achievement in Music – Original Song
Qurram Hussain
Performance in a Leading Role, Drama
Amrit Kaur
THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS
From debut feature director Fawzia Mirza, and an Atlantic producing team, comes a wildly ambitious film that spans multiple time periods, moving seamlessly between the craggy rocks of small-town Cape Breton and the bustling streets of Pakistan. Propelled by magnetic performances from the film’s lead cast, the film tells a mother-daughter story of two generations of women, their overlapping aspirations and the hurdles they must overcome to reach them. Part romance, part musical, part a story of loss, The Queen of My Dreams is nothing short of a marvel.
Best Sound Design in a Feature Length Documentary
Sam Rodgers, James Lazarenko, Claire Dobson, Krystin Hunter, Graham Rogers, Jane Tattersall, Stefana Fratila, Paul Germann, Steve Medeiros, Marilee Yorston, Steve Hammond, David Yonson, Steve Copley
SWAN SONG
A backstage look into a historic, re-imagined staging of Swan Lake, directed by Karen Kain on the eve of her retirement from the National Ballet of Canada. Through the production’s various dancers, documentarian Chelsea McMullan intimately depicts the passion, creativity, and physical demands required by this artform. And though the beauty of ballet is mesmerizing, McMullan pointedly touches on darker aspects of its culture, including narrow ideals of race, class, and body standards.
Best Short Documentary
MADELEINE
Raquel Sancinetti
Every week, two friends born 67 years apart share their life stories in a senior home's living room. The younger friend convinces the 107-year-old lady to join her in an adventure: a road trip to the sea.
John Dunning Best First Feature Film Award
IN FLAMES
Zarrar Kahn
The Cannes Film Festival Directors Fortnight standout In Flames, is a beautifully shot psychological drama set in Karachi. When her father dies, Mariam (Ramesha Nawal) and her mother (Bakhtawar Mazhar) must contend with predatory male forces that encircle them. Pakistani-Canadian Zarrar Kahn’s vivid debut feature uses the real-life nightmare of patriarchy to incorporate elements of a supernatural horror film. Kahn’s surrealistic genre-blending also refreshingly allows a typically bleak narrative to channel one of female empowerment.