East coast filmmaker Heather Harkins has won the first Helen Hill Animated Award, taking the prize for her handiwork on She’s A Lady Animator, about the ‘secret history’ of women animators working during World War II.

The prize — named in honor of the late animator — comes with $5,000 in support from PowerPost Production, $1,000 support from the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative, $1,100 support from the Centre For Art Tapes, $1,000 support from the New Brunswick Filmmakers’ Cooperative, and an additional $500 cash.

Harkins is based in Halifax, where she is currently on the board of the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative. Her previous films include Don’t Blink, The 8 Husbands of Zsa Zsa Gabor and Duncan’s Cove. She also teaches children’s workshops at film festivals and in the community using hands-on film scratching techniques.

The prize is presented by the Linda Joy Media Arts Society, which introduced the award earlier this year in honor of Hill, a gifted animator who lived, worked and taught in Halifax from 1995 to 2001. Following a move to New Orleans, she was murdered in January of this year during a home invasion, leaving her husband Paul Gailiunas and young son Francis. She was 36.