The Rogers Best Canadian Film Award is presented annually by the Toronto Film Critics Association to the film judged by the organization's members as the year's best Canadian film.[1] In 2012, the cash prize accompanying the award was increased to $100,000, making it the largest arts award in Canada. Each year, two runners-up also receive $5,000. The award is funded and presented by Rogers Communications, which is a founding sponsor of the association's awards gala.[2][3]
In 2023, the TFCA announced changes to the award. Instead of a single $100,000 prize presented to a mixed shortlist of narrative and documentary films, the organization will now present two $50,000 prizes, one for narrative features and one for documentaries.[4]
Unlike the other Toronto Film Critics Association awards, whose winners are announced in early January each year, the Best Canadian Film award only has its finalists announced at that time, and the winner of the award is then announced at the organization's gala in March.
Toronto Film Critics Poll
editPrior to the official launch of the Toronto Film Critics Association in 1997, film critic Wyndham Wise coordinated two polls of Torontonian film critics in 1995 and 1996 through his magazine Take One to select the year's best Canadian films; upon the launch of the TFCA, this poll was discontinued and superseded by the TFCA's annual awards.
1995
edit| Category | Winners and nominees | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| Best Film | Rude — Damon D'Oliveira, Karen King | [5] |
| Double Happiness — Steve Hegyes, Rose Lam Waddell | [6] | |
| When Night Is Falling — Barbara Tranter | ||
| Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes) — Richard Sadler, Jacques Dorfmann | ||
| Best Director | Clement Virgo, Rude | [5] |
| Mina Shum, Double Happiness | [6] | |
| Charles Binamé, Eldorado | ||
| Patricia Rozema, When Night Is Falling | ||
| Best Actor | Maury Chaykin, Whale Music | [5] |
| Clark Johnson, Rude | [6] | |
| Maurice Dean Wint, Rude | ||
| Peter Williams, Soul Survivor | ||
| Best Actress | Sandra Oh, Double Happiness | [5] |
| Pascale Montpetit, Eldorado | [6] | |
| Pascale Bussières, Eldorado | ||
| Tracy Wright, Wasaga | ||
| Best Screenplay | Mina Shum, Double Happiness | [5] |
| Clement Virgo, Rude | [6] | |
| Émile Gaudreault, Sylvie Bouchard and Michel Michaud, Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes) | ||
| Bruce McDonald, Don McKellar and John Frizzell, Dance Me Outside |
1996
editToronto Film Critics Association
edit1990s
edit2000s
edit2010s
edit2020s
edit| Year | Film | Director(s) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Anne at 13,000 Ft. | Kazik Radwanski | [43] |
| And the Birds Rained Down | Louise Archambault | [44] | |
| White Lie | Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas | ||
| 2021 | Beans | Tracey Deer | [45] |
| Night Raiders | Danis Goulet | [46] | |
| Scarborough | Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson | ||
| 2022 | Riceboy Sleeps | Anthony Shim | [47] |
| Brother | Clement Virgo | [48] | |
| Crimes of the Future | David Cronenberg | ||
| 2023 | BlackBerry | Matt Johnson | [49] |
| Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) | Ariane Louis-Seize | [4] | |
| Solo | Sophie Dupuis |
Best Canadian Documentary
edit| Year | Film | Director(s) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Swan Song | Chelsea McMullan | [49] |
| Rojek | Zaynê Akyol | ||
| Someone Lives Here | Zack Russell |
References
edit- ^ "Rogers Best Canadian Film Award". Toronto Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on 3 May 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ^ "Rogers Best Canadian Film Award rises to $100,000". Toronto Film Critics Association. 27 November 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- ^ "Sarah Polley doc wins Toronto critics' $100K prize". CBC News. 8 January 2013. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- ^ a b Erik Anderson, "Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) Awards: ‘The Zone of Interest’ Wins Best Picture, Director" Archived 2023-12-17 at the Wayback Machine. AwardsWatch, December 17, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Christopher Harris, "Magazines: Toronto Film Critics Poll". The Globe and Mail, December 18, 1995.
- ^ a b c d e "The Toronto Film Critics' Poll". Take One, Winter 1996.
- ^ "The 2nd Annual Toronto Film Critics' Poll". Take One, Winter 1997.
- ^ Liam Lacey, "Egoyan film top pick". The Globe and Mail, January 15, 1998.
- ^ "War movies are the big winners". Hamilton Spectator, December 18, 1998.
- ^ "Toronto critics pick Magnolia as best film of 1999 Yet-unreleased second picture from director of Boogie Nights follows linked stories of characters in San Fernando Valley". The Globe and Mail, December 17, 1999.
- ^ Peter Howell, "Toronto critics like Lee ; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon named top movie". Toronto Star, December 21, 2000.
- ^ "Memento named best picture". Calgary Herald, December 20, 2001.
- ^ "Toronto critics pick Adaptation as top film". Ottawa Citizen, December 20, 2002.
- ^ "Coppola's Lost in Translation honoured by Toronto critics". Waterloo Region Record, December 18, 2003.
- ^ "Sideways named best film of 2004 by Toronto critics". Sault Star, December 17, 2004.
- ^ "Cronenberg's History of Violence tops T.O. critics' best-of list". Sudbury Star, December 22, 2005.
- ^ Lee-Anne Goodman, "'The Queen' named best picture by Toronto's film critics". Canadian Press, December 20, 2006.
- ^ Bruce Kirkland, "Old Men No. 1; Coen Brothers flick tops T.O. film critics' 2007 list". Toronto Sun, December 19, 2007.
- ^ Liam Lacey, "Maddin film wins $10,000 Toronto critics' award". The Globe and Mail, January 7, 2009.
- ^ Chris Knight, "Toronto critics pick Wendy and Lucy". Windsor Star, December 17, 2008.
- ^ Melissa Leong, "'Most ... would consider the subject untouchable'; Polytechnique, J'ai tue ma mere nab TFCA awards". National Post, January 13, 2010.
- ^ Jim Slotek, "Toronto film critics beg to differ". Toronto Sun, December 16, 2009.
- ^ "Incendies wins top film award". Times & Transcript, January 14, 2011.
- ^ Peter Knegt, "“Social Network” Tops San Francisco and Toronto Film Critics’ Awards" Archived 2018-04-29 at the Wayback Machine. IndieWire, December 14, 2010.
- ^ "Monsieur Lazhar wins Toronto critics' prize". Victoria Times-Colonist, January 12, 2012.
- ^ Brian D. Johnson, "Toronto critics name 'Tree of Life' Best Picture" Archived 2024-01-08 at the Wayback Machine. Maclean's, December 14, 2011.
- ^ Linda Barnard, "Polley wins Canada's top film prize". Toronto Star, January 9, 2013.
- ^ Cassandra Szklarski, "'The Master' rules with Toronto film critics, named best film, screenplay". Canadian Press, December 18, 2012.
- ^ Chris Knight, "Watermark wins Rogers Film Prize". National Post, January 8, 2014.
- ^ "Toronto Film Critics Association awards for 2013". Toronto Star, December 17, 2013.
- ^ "Villeneuve's Enemy tops with T.O. film critics". Halifax Chronicle-Herald, January 8, 2015.
- ^ Norman Wilner, "Toronto film critics champion Boyhood" Archived 2022-06-23 at the Wayback Machine. Now, December 16, 2014.
- ^ Cassandra Szklarski, "Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson win $100,000 Toronto film critics prize". Canadian Press, January 5, 2016.
- ^ Jeremy Kay, "Toronto critics honour 'Carol'" Archived 2023-05-29 at the Wayback Machine. Screen Daily, December 14, 2015.
- ^ "Three filmmakers opt to share $110,000 prize: Toronto trio will pool, divide the money awarded to them by local critics' association". Toronto Star, January 15, 2017.
- ^ Norman Wilner, "Toronto critics bask in the Moonlight" Archived 2021-12-05 at the Wayback Machine. Now, December 12, 2016.
- ^ Chris Knight, "Critics pick debut edgy addiction drama; Werewolf wins $100,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award". Sudbury Star, January 11, 2018.
- ^ Jim Slotek, "Toronto film critics give best picture thumbs up to The Florida Project" Archived 2024-01-23 at the Wayback Machine. Original Cin, December 10, 2017.
- ^ "'Anthropocene' named best Canadian feature by Toronto Film Critics Association" Archived 2019-01-22 at the Wayback Machine. CityNews, January 8, 2019.
- ^ Corey Atad, "Toronto Film Critics Association Names ‘Roma’ Best Picture Of 2018". ET Canada, December 10, 2018.
- ^ "Abuse drama wins $100,000 prize". Vancouver Sun, January 11, 2020.
- ^ Radheyan Simonpillai, "Toronto Film Critics Association names Parasite the year’s best movie" Archived 2021-09-17 at the Wayback Machine. Now, December 9, 2019.
- ^ "Anne at 13,000 Ft wins $100K Toronto critics award" Archived 2022-06-23 at the Wayback Machine. CBC News, March 10, 2021.
- ^ Etan Vlessing, "Chloe Zhao's 'Nomadland' Named Best Picture by Toronto Film Critics Association" Archived 2021-02-08 at the Wayback Machine. The Hollywood Reporter, February 7, 2021.
- ^ Sadaf Ahsan, "Indigenous coming-of-age drama Beans wins $100,000 Toronto film critics prize" Archived 2022-04-18 at the Wayback Machine. The Globe and Mail, March 8, 2022.
- ^ Pat Mullen, "Drive My Car Leads TFCA Award Winners" Archived 2023-12-11 at the Wayback Machine. That Shelf, January 16, 2022.
- ^ Kelly Townsend, "Riceboy Sleeps wins TFCA’s 2022 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award" Archived 2023-03-30 at the Wayback Machine. Playback, March 7, 2023.
- ^ Pat Mullen, "Toronto Film Critics Name All the Beauty and the Bloodshed Top Doc" Archived 2023-11-30 at the Wayback Machine. Point of View, January 8, 2023.
- ^ a b Mullen, Pat (2024-03-05). "Swan Song Wins Rogers Best Canadian Documentary from Toronto Film Critics". POV Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-05.