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John Dunning Best First Feature Award
Special Canadian film award
Special Canadian film award
The John Dunning Best First Feature Award is a special Canadian film award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the year's best feature film by a first-time film director. Under the earlier names Claude Jutra Award and Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature, the award has been presented since the 14th Genie Awards in 1993.
Formerly a juried prize whose winner was announced in advance of the ceremony, the award is now presented as a conventional category with a full shortlist of nominees.
To date six films, The Confessional (Le Confessionnal), Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, Away from Her, A Colony (Une colonie), Beans and Scarborough, have won both the Best First Feature and Best Picture awards in the same year; the directors of Le Confessionnal, Atanarjuat, Away from Her and Scarborough also won the award for Best Director for the same films.
History
The award was originally named in memory of Claude Jutra, a Canadian film director who died in 1986. Formerly part of the Genie Awards ceremonies, the Claude Jutra Award was transitioned to be part of the new Canadian Screen Awards in 2013.
Following the February 2016 publication of Yves Lever's biography of Jutra, which contained allegations that Jutra had sexually abused underage children during his lifetime, the Academy announced that it was removing Jutra's name from the award. Québec Cinéma also removed Jutra's name from its Prix Jutra ceremonies on the same day.
Beginning with the 4th Canadian Screen Awards in 2016, the award was presented as the Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature. In the same year the John Dunning Discovery Award, named in memory of film producer John Dunning, was introduced to honour microbudget films. Initially it was a separate award from the Best First Feature category, with the two awards presented alongside each other to different films, until the two awards were merged under the John Dunning Best First Feature Award name beginning with the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019.
Winners
Claude Jutra Award
| Year | Film | Director | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | |||
| 14th Genie Awards | *The Grocer's Wife* | John Pozer | |
| 1994 | |||
| 15th Genie Awards | *Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes)* | Michel Poulette | |
| 1995 | |||
| 16th Genie Awards | *The Confessional (Le Confessionnal)* | Robert Lepage | |
| 1996 | |||
| 17th Genie Awards | *Joe's So Mean to Josephine* | Peter Wellington | |
| 1997 | |||
| 18th Genie Awards | *The Hanging Garden* | Thom Fitzgerald | |
| 1998 | |||
| 19th Genie Awards | *Last Night* | Don McKellar | |
| 1999 | |||
| 20th Genie Awards | *Post Mortem* | Louis Bélanger | |
| 2000 | |||
| 21st Genie Awards | *The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge (La Moitié gauche du frigo)* | Philippe Falardeau | |
| 2001 | |||
| 22nd Genie Awards | *Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner* | Zacharias Kunuk | |
| 2002 | |||
| 23rd Genie Awards | *Flower & Garnet* | Keith Behrman | |
| 2003 | |||
| 24th Genie Awards | *How My Mother Gave Birth to Me During Menopause (Comment ma mère accoucha de moi durant sa ménopause)* | Sébastien Rose | |
| 2004 | |||
| 25th Genie Awards | *White Skin (La Peau blanche)* | Daniel Roby | |
| 2005 | |||
| 26th Genie Awards | *Familia* | Louise Archambault | |
| 2006 | |||
| 27th Genie Awards | *Eve and the Fire Horse* | Julia Kwan | |
| *The Secret Life of Happy People (La Vie secrète des gens heureux)* | Stéphane Lapointe | ||
| 2007 | |||
| 28th Genie Awards | *Away from Her* | Sarah Polley | |
| 2008 | |||
| 29th Genie Awards | *Everything Is Fine (Tout est parfait)* | Yves Christian Fournier | |
| 2009 | |||
| 30th Genie Awards | *I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère)* | Xavier Dolan | |
| 2010 | |||
| 31st Genie Awards | *Exit 67 (Sortie 67)* | Jephté Bastien | |
| 2011 | |||
| 32nd Genie Awards | *Nuit #1* | Anne Émond | |
| 2012 | |||
| 1st Canadian Screen Awards | *Blackbird* | Jason Buxton | |
| 2013 | |||
| 2nd Canadian Screen Awards | *Whitewash* | Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais | |
| 2014 | |||
| 3rd Canadian Screen Awards | *Bang Bang Baby* | Jeffrey St. Jules |
Best First Feature
| Year | Film | Director | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | |||
| 4th Canadian Screen Awards | *River* | Jamie M. Dagg | |
| 2016 | |||
| 5th Canadian Screen Awards | *Old Stone* | Johnny Ma | |
| 2017 | |||
| 6th Canadian Screen Awards | *Ava* | Sadaf Foroughi |
John Dunning Discovery Award
| Year | Film | Director | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | |||
| 4th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| *Mina Walking* | Yosef Baraki | ||
| 2016 | |||
| 5th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| *The Lockpicker* | Randall Okita | ||
| 2017 | |||
| 6th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| *Black Cop* | Cory Bowles | ||
| The Devout | Connor Gaston | ||
| Wexford Plaza | Joyce Wong |
John Dunning Best First Feature Award
| Year | Film | Director | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | |||
| 7th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| *A Colony (Une colonie)* | Geneviève Dulude-De Celles | ||
| Family First (Chien de garde) | Sophie Dupuis | ||
| Firecrackers | Jasmin Mozaffari | ||
| The Nest (Le nid) | David Paradis | ||
| Touched | Karl R. Hearne | ||
| 2019 | |||
| 8th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| *Murmur* | Heather Young | ||
| Black Conflux | Nicole Dorsey | ||
| Mad Dog Labine | Jonathan Beaulieu-Cyr, Renaud Lessard | ||
| Sympathy for the Devil (Sympathie pour le diable) | Guillaume de Fontenay | ||
| The Twentieth Century | Matthew Rankin | ||
| 2020 | |||
| 9th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| *Beans* | Tracey Deer | ||
| The Kid Detective | Evan Morgan | ||
| Tito | Grace Glowicki | ||
| Vacarme | Neegan Trudel | ||
| Violation | Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli | ||
| 2021 | |||
| 10th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| *Scarborough* | Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson | ||
| Islands | Martin Edralin | ||
| Night Raiders | Danis Goulet | ||
| The Noise of Engines (Le Bruit des moteurs) | Philippe Grégoire | ||
| Without Havana (Sin la Habana) | Kaveh Nabatian | ||
| 2022 | |||
| 11th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| *Falcon Lake* | Charlotte Le Bon | ||
| The Maiden | Graham Foy | ||
| Noemie Says Yes (Noémie dit oui) | Geneviève Albert | ||
| Rodeo (Rodéo) | Joëlle Desjardins Paquette | ||
| Wolves | Danny Dunlop | ||
| 2023 | |||
| 12th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| *In Flames* | Zarrar Kahn | ||
| Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) | Ariane Louis-Seize | ||
| Kanaval | Henri Pardo | ||
| Richelieu | Pier-Philippe Chevigny | ||
| Something You Said Last Night | Luis De Filippis | ||
| Through the Night (Quitter la nuit) | Delphine Girard | ||
| 2024 | |||
| 13th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| *Village Keeper* | Karen Chapman | ||
| Deaner '89 | Sam McGlynn | ||
| Hunting Daze (Jour de chasse) | Annick Blanc | ||
| Mongrels | Jerome Yoo | ||
| Seeds | Kaniehtiio Horn | ||
| Who Do I Belong To | Meryam Joobeur |
References
References
- Paul Townend, [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/claude-jutra-award/ "Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature"]. ''[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]'', March 7, 2010.
- Valerie J. Webster. (1998). "Awards, Honors & Prizes: United States and Canada 1999". Gale Research.
- Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. [[Stoddart Publishing]], 2000. {{ISBN. 0-7737-3238-1. pp. 199-203.
- [https://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/quebec+culture+minister+asks+film+industry+yank+jutras/11725149/story.html "Claude Jutra's name to be pulled from Quebec film awards"] {{Webarchive. link. (March 1, 2016. ''[[Ottawa Citizen]]'', February 17, 2016.)
- [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/canadian-screen-awards-rightly-leave-hollywood-behind/article37617239/ "Canadian Screen Awards leave Hollywood behind"]. ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', January 16, 2018.
- [http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/incendies-barney-s-version-dominate-genies-1.1078773 "Incendies, Barney's Version dominate Genies"]. [[CBC News]], March 10, 2011.
- [https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/quebec-s-anne-%C3%A9mond-wins-debut-director-award-1.1217089 "Quebec's Anne Émond wins debut director award"]. [[CBC News]], February 22, 2012.
- (January 29, 2013). "Blackbird director Jason Buxton wins first-film honour". [[CBC News]].
- (January 23, 2014). "Le Claude-Jutra à Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais". [[Le Devoir]].
- [http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/news/academy-names-claude-jutra-award-winner/1003456632/ "Academy Names Claude Jutra Award Winner"] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-02-04 . ''Broadcaster'', February 3, 2015.)
- [http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/jutra-award-dagg-river-1.3432436 "Jamie M. Dagg wins Claude Jutra Award for Laos-set thriller River"]. [[CBC News]], February 4, 2016.
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20170202173141/http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/ma-s-old-stone-gets-canadian-academy-s-best-first-feature-award-1.3268060 "Ma's 'Old Stone' gets Canadian academy's Best First Feature award"]. [[CTV News]], February 2, 2017.
- [https://nationalpost.com/pmn/entertainment-pmn/sadaf-foroughis-ava-wins-best-first-feature-film-from-canadian-screen-awards "Sadaf Foroughi's 'Ava' wins best first feature film from Canadian Screen Awards"]. ''[[National Post]]'', January 31, 2018.
- [https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/mina-walking-honoured-with-inaugural-discovery-award-565775721.html "Mina Walking Honoured with Inaugural Discovery Award"]. ''Cision'', January 19, 2016.
- [http://playbackonline.ca/2017/01/12/randall-okita-to-receive-inaugural-john-dunning-discovery-award/ "Randall Okita to receive inaugural John Dunning Discovery Award"]. ''[[Playback (magazine). Playback]]'', January 12, 2017.
- [http://playbackonline.ca/2018/04/25/northern-banner-picks-up-cory-bowles-black-cop/ "Northern Banner picks up Cory Bowles’ Black Cop"]. ''[[Playback (magazine). Playback]]'', April 25, 2018.
- Norman Wilner, [https://nowtoronto.com/movies/features/the-canadian-screen-awards-2018-nominations/ "The Canadian Screen Awards showers love on (almost) everyone"]. ''[[Now (newspaper). Now]]'', January 16, 2018.
- [https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1161646/prix-ecrans-canadiens-2019-gagnants "Les Québécois remportent plus de la moitié des trophées à l'avant-gala des prix Écrans canadiens"]. [[Ici Radio-Canada]], March 31, 2019.
- [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/filmmaker-saint-john-screen-award-1.5593386 "Filmmaker from Saint John wins Canadian Screen Award"]. [[CBC News]] New Brunswick, June 1, 2020.
- Norman Wilner, [https://nowtoronto.com/movies/features/canadian-screen-awards-nominations-2020/ "Canadian Screen Awards 2020: Prepare for a Schitt's show"]. ''[[Now (newspaper). Now]]'', February 18, 2020.
- Naman Ramachandran, [https://variety.com/2021/tv/global/schitts-creek-blood-quantum-canadian-screen-awards-1234978520/ "‘Schitt’s Creek,’ ‘Blood Quantum’ Triumph at Canadian Screen Awards"]. ''[[Variety (magazine). Variety]]'', May 21, 2021.
- Brent Furdyk. (March 30, 2021). "Canadian Screen Awards Announces 2021 Film Nominations".
- [https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/night-raiders-scarborough-csa-night-five-1.6414141 "Night Raiders, Scarborough emerge victorious at 5th night of Canadian Screen Awards"]. [[CBC News]], April 8, 2022.
- Brent Furdyk, [https://web.archive.org/web/20220215130202/https://etcanada.com/news/867531/2022-canadian-screen-awards-nominees-announced/ "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack"]. ''[[ET Canada]]'', February 15, 2022.
- Jenna Benchetrit, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/csas-2023-third-night-1.6809964 "Brother dominates with a dozen wins on third night of Canadian Screen Awards"]. [[CBC News]], April 13, 2023.
- Charles-Henri Ramond, [https://www.filmsquebec.com/ecrans-canadiens-viking13-nominations/ "Écrans canadiens – Viking,13 nominations"]. ''Films du Québec'', February 22, 2023.
- Connie Thiessen, [https://broadcastdialogue.com/canadian-screen-awards-winners-cinematic-arts-2/ "Canadian Screen Awards winners: Cinematic Arts"]. ''Broadcast Dialogue'', May 30, 2024.
- [https://www.northernstars.ca/blackberry-leads-csa-nominations/ "BlackBerry Leads CSA Nominations"]. ''Northern Stars'', March 6, 2024.
- Jamie Casemore, [https://playbackonline.ca/2025/05/31/csas-25-universal-language-takes-five-at-cinematic-arts-awards/ "CSAs ‘25: Universal Language takes five at Cinematic Arts Awards"]. ''[[Playback (magazine). Playback]]'', May 31, 2025.
- Samritha Arunasalam, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/canadian-screen-awards-2025-nominees-1.7491909 "Here's who is nominated for the 2025 Canadian Screen Awards"]. [[CBC News]], March 26, 2025.
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