The WIFF Prize in Canadian Film is an annual film award, presented by the Windsor International Film Festival to a film selected by its jury as the best film among the ten films screening in its annual competition for Canadian films.Jericho Tadeo, "WIFF announces nominees for 2026 Canadian film prize". Playback, September 16, 2026.
The award was introduced in 2019, initially offering a prize of $10,000 to the winner.Trevor Wilhelm, "Province announces $50,000 in funding for Windsor International Film Festival". Windsor Star, September 12, 2019.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the award was not presented in 2020 or 2021 due to the cancellation of the regular festival.Dalson Chen, "Windsor International Film Festival cancels 2020 edition". Windsor Star, June 24, 2020. Although in both years the festival staged special drive-in editions in lieu of the regular festival, it did not present awards."WIFF drive-in event to return this summer but the festival will not". CBC News Windsor, June 9, 2021. When the festival and award returned in 2022, the prize was increased to $25,000, becoming one of the largest monetary prizes in the Canadian film industry.Victoria Ahearn, "Riceboy Sleeps wins $25,000 WIFF Prize in Canadian Film". Playback, November 1, 2022.
The award is open to both narrative and documentary films.Pat Mullen, "Two Docs Tapped to Compete at Windsor Film Festival". Point of View, September 13, 2024.
Winners and nominees Year Film Director Ref 2019 Kuessipan Myriam Verreault Charles-Henri Ramond, "Kuessipan primé à Windsor". Films du Québec, November 12, 2019. And the Birds Rained Down (Il pleuvait des oiseaux) Louise Archambault Antigone Sophie Deraspe Castle in the Ground Joey Klein Easy Land Sanja Živković Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind Martha Kehoe, Joan Tosoni Jordan River Anderson, the Messenger Alanis Obomsawin Matthias & Maxime Xavier Dolan Prey Matt Gallagher Willie Laurence Mathieu-Léger 2020 Award not presented due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. 2021 2022 Riceboy Sleeps Anthony Shim Brother Clement Virgo "Windsor International Film Festival Announces Full Lineup". Windsorite, October 6, 2022. Eternal Spring Jason Loftus Falcon Lake Charlotte Le Bon I Like Movies Chandler Levack Norbourg Maxime Giroux North of Normal Carly Stone Something You Said Last Night Luis De Filippis The Swearing Jar Lindsay MacKay To Kill a Tiger Nisha Pahuja 2023 Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Ariane Louis-Seize "Horror comedy from Ariane Louis-Seize wins Windsor International Film Festival prize". CityNews, October 29, 2023. BlackBerry Matt Johnson "BlackBerry, Seven Veils among nominees for $25,000 Windsor film fest prize". The Globe and Mail, September 14, 2023. The Dishwasher (Le Plongeur) Francis Leclerc Frontiers (Frontières) Guy Édoin Irena's Vow Louise Archambault My Mother's Men (Les hommes de ma mère) Anik Jean The Nature of Love (Simple comme Sylvain) Monia Chokri One Summer (Le temps d'un été) Louise Archambault Seven Veils Atom Egoyan Solo Sophie Dupuis 2024 Who Do I Belong To Meryam Joobeur Nicholas Sokic, "Meryam Joobeur wins $25,000 WIFF Prize in Canadian Film". Playback, October 28, 2024. Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story Michael Mabbott, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee Hunting Daze (Jour de chassse) Annick Blanc Lucy Grizzli Sophie Anne Émond On Earth as in Heaven (Sur la terre comme au ciel) Nathalie Saint-Pierre Paying for It Sook-Yin Lee Really Happy Someday J Stevens Russians at War Anastasia Trofimova Sharp Corner Jason Buxton Universal Language (Une langue universelle) Matthew Rankin 2025 Montreal, My Beautiful (Montréal, ma belle) Xiaodan He Jamie Casemore, "Montreal, My Beautiful claims WIFF Prize in Canadian Film". Playback, October 27, 2025. Compulsive Liar 2 (Menteuse) Émile Gaudreault Andrew Tracy, "WIFF unveils nominees for 2025 Canadian film prize". Playback, September 10, 2025. The Cost of Heaven (Gagne ton ciel) Mathieu Denis In Cold Light Maxime Giroux Lovely Day (Mille secrets mille dangers) Philippe Falardeau Peak Everything (Amour Apocalypse) Anne Émond The Pitch Michèle Hozer Shamed Matt Gallagher Two Women (Deux femmes en or) Chloé Robichaud Where Souls Go (Où vont les âmes) Brigitte Poupart 2026 Ba's Book Ashley Duong Kaitlyn McGrath, "Montreal filmmakers headline list of movies up for the $25,000 WIFF prize". Toronto Star, September 16, 2026. Haunted (Hantée) Rafaël Ouellet Julián Louise Bagnall Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney Matthew Rankin Nekai Walks Rico King Neverman Rodrigo Barriuso Nina Roza Geneviève Dulude-De Celles Pauline (Pauline Julien: femme pays) Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette Run Terry Run Sean Menard You Will Be Free (Ma fille tu seras libre) Bachir Bensaddek
Juries YearJury 2019 Karen Bruce, Isabelle Corriveau, Joshua Riehl 2022 Magali Simard, Jason Gorber, Sally Lee, Joanna Miles, Glenn Sumi 2023 Steve Gravestock, Kerri Craddock, Maxime Giroux, Peter Howell, Tiffany Hsiung 2024 Don McKellar, Aisling Chin-Yee, Joey Klein, Andrew Murphy, Srimati Sen 2025 Charles Tremblay, Paul Barkin, Manon Dumais, Tanya Mason, Chelsea McMullan 2026 TBA
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