Marc Almon’s short film The Wake of Calum MacLeod is the winner of the $1,250 A&E Short Filmmakers Award for best film in the latest awards round of the NSI Online Short Film Festival.

My Black-Capped Angels (Mes anges a tete noire), directed by Juliette Gosselin and Florence Pelletier won the $2,000 Shaw Media Fearless Female Director Award, while Matthew Rankin and Mike Maryniuk’s Cattle Call won the $750 Bite Comedy Award.

Of Blackbird producer Almon’s short, jury member Robin Smith, president and founder of distributor KinoSmith, said it is “a well-crafted and beautifully constructed modern day fable with a real kicker of an ending.”

Jury member Ashley McKenzie, a writer-director from Cape Breton, commented that My Black-Capped Angels “tackles often overlooked subject matter and captures the emotional world of its lead character with a delicate touch,” while Raindance Canada creative director Tiska Wiederman called Cattle Call “innovative and creative filmmaking.”

The next call for the year-round online festival is in the fall.