The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival came to a close Sunday night, crowning Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn’s The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (pictured) as Best Dramatic Feature.

The film is on a winning streak at Canadian festivals, picking up the Grand Prix in the Festival du nouveau cinema de Montreal‘s features competition, as well as Best BC Film at the Vancouver International Film Festival, with Tailfeathers earning the BC Emerging Filmmaker prize. The Best Dramatic Feature award comes with a $2,000 cash prize from Bell Media. The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open recently picked up U.S. distribution from Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing and is set to hit Netflix in the U.S. later this year.

Alvaro Sarmiento and Diego Sarmiento’s Sembradoras de vida (“Mothers of the Land“) won the Alanis Obomsawin Award for Best Documentary Work Long Format, as well as a $2,000 cash prize from CBC. Tasha Hubbard’s documentary nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up won the Sun Jury Prize and Elle Sofe Sara’s short doc won the Moon Jury Prize, each picking up a $1,000 cash prize.

Best Indigenous Language Production went to Aleksei Vakhrushev’s documentary The Book of the Sea, with $1,000 given from Indigenous Media Initiatives, while Katie Avery received the Jane Glassco Award for Emerging Talent for her short film Gently, Jennifer, with a $2,000 cash prize given by the CJ Foundation. Peter Hiki’s feature The Cursed Harp won the Ellen Monague Award for Best Youth Work, with a $500 cash prize from BMO.

The short film award was presented to Alika Maikau for Moloka’i Bound, with a $1,000 cash prize from Vtape, while Jesse Adler’s The Boxers of Brule won the documentary short award, with a $1,000 cash prize from TVO. Antonio Coello’s short animation Hant Quij Cöipaxi Hac (“The Creation of the World“) picked up the Kent Monkman Award for Best Experimental Work, along with a $1,000 cash prize.

On the digital side, Mary Galloway and Jessie Anthony won the APTN/imagineNATIVE Web Series Pitch, receiving $57,900 in funding to produce their digital series Querencia. The prize is sponsored by APTN and the Bell Fund. Best Digital or Interactive Work went to the VR game Ksistsikoom (Thunder) while Best Emerging Digital or Interactive Work was awarded to Maize Longboat and Ray Caplin for Terra Nova, each winning a $500 cash prize. The NFB/imagineNATIVE Digital and Interactive Prize was awarded to musician and filmmaker Elisapie Isaac.

The August Schellenberg Award of Excellence, which recognizes the achievements of an Indigenous artist, was given to actor Michelle Thrush, with a $1,500 prizes partially sponsored by ACTRA National and AFBS.

The audience awards for best feature and short film will be announced at a later date. The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival ran from Oct. 22 to 27.

Image courtesy of TIFF