Brother dominates with a dozen wins on third night of Canadian Screen Awards

Brother, director Clement Virgo's intense portrait of two Jamaican-Canadian siblings growing up in a Toronto suburb during the 1990s, swept the third night of the Canadian Screen Awards (CSAs) after winning 12 of its 14 nominations in the cinematic arts categories.

Among its many laurels were best motion picture, achievement in direction for Virgo, and performance in a leading role for Lamar Johnson, a rising Canadian star who has appeared in The Last of Us and Your Honor. 

The film, an adaptation of David Chariandy's eponymous 2017 book, is a meditation on masculinity and family set against the backdrop of Scarborough, Ont.'s fledgling hip-hop scene. Brother had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Its theatrical run began on March 17.

Its other CSA wins include performance in a supporting role for British actor Aaron Pierre, adapted screenplay, and awards for achievement in casting, sound mixing, sound editing, original score, art direction, hair and costume design.

The only other film to earn multiple awards was David Cronenberg's dystopian body horror Crimes of the Future, which had the second-most number of nominations at 11. It won two: achievement in visual effects and achievement in makeup. 

Chandler Levack's I Like Movies and Anthony Shim's Riceboy Sleeps took home an award each: I Like Movies, which follows a young film buff who works at a video store circa 2003, won achievement in editing for Simone Smith's work, while Riceboy Sleeps, about a Korean immigrant raising her son in 1990s suburban Canada, won the prize for original screenplay.

Shim, a Korean-Canadian filmmaker raised in Vancouver, was among a handful of talent who shared regret after the Canadian Screen Awards announced that it would drop a live show format and instead move to a pre-taped special celebrating winners on Sunday.

"Making films is so rough and it's so not glamorous," said Shim at the time. "To have an excuse to get together with your peers and to have a night to just acknowledge one another's work in person is, I think, part of the reward of making something."

Oscar-nominated short film The Flying Sailor and its veteran Alberta producers Wendy Tilby, Amanda Forbis and David Christensen won best animated short, while Sara Mishara took home the achievement in cinematography for her work on Stéphane Lafleur's sci-fi comedy Viking.

Toronto-born Kate Hewlett won best original song for writing The Swearing Song from the musical drama The Swearing Jar, a film adaptation of Hewlett's play about a couple who try to quit swearing before their baby is born.

Falcon Lake director Charlotte Le Bon won the John Dunning award for best first feature film.

CBC Gem comedy Revenge of the Black Best Friend nabs two prizes

Earlier on Thursday, the winners in the digital and immersive categories were announced. 

CBC Gem comedy Revenge of the Black Best Friend took home the top prize for best web program or series, with star Olunike Adeliyi honoured for best lead performance. 

The show, created by Canadian writer-producer Amanda Parris, follows a self-help guru trying to single-handedly tear down stereotypical depictions of Black people in the entertainment industry.

Entertainment Tonight Canada also won several prizes in the digital categories. The hosts of digital talk series ET Canada Live — Cheryl Hickey, Roz Weston, Sangita Patel, Carlos Bustamante, Keshia Chanté, Morgan Hoffman — won best host, web program or series. 

The same show won best live production, social media, while LGBTQ-focused digital series ET Canada Pride won best web program or series, non-fiction.

The CSAs handed out over 30 prizes on Wednesday in the lifestyle, reality television, children's programming and animation categories, with Canada's Drag Race and Paw Patrol taking home six and three awards, respectively. Friday marks the final evening of awards, as the CSAs honour winners in the comedy and drama television categories. 

The week will culminate in a pre-taped, hour-long special on Sunday hosted by former late-night personality Samantha Bee at 8 p.m. on CBC TV and CBC Gem.

Other winners announced Thursday include:

• Best live action short drama: Simo (Rosalie Chicoine Perreault, Aziz Zoromba)
• Golden Screen award for feature film: Two Days Before Christmas (Guillaume Lespérance)
• Academy Board of Directors' Tribute award: Paul Pope
• Best supporting performance, web program or series: Tokens (Sedina Fiati)
• Best video game: I Was A Teenage Exocolonist (Sarah Northway)
• Best immersive experience, non-fiction: Lou (Martine Asselin, Annick Daigneault, Sébastien Gros, John Hamilton)
• Best immersive experience, fiction: The Orchid and the Bee (Frances Adair Mckenzie, Jelena Popovic, Michael Fukushima)
• Best writing, web program or series: Chateau Laurier - An Unfortunate Turn of Events (Kent Staines, Emily Weedon)
• Best direction, web program or series: Tokens - The Goal (Winnifred Jong)

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.