After the Last River named Best Canadian Feature at PiF fest

Victoria Lean's first feature-length doc (pictured) was among the projects to win at the Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival.

after the last river web_attawapiskat_aboriginaldayThe winners of the Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival 2015 have been named, with After the Last River by Victoria Lean taking home the best Canadian feature prize.

The documentary film, which also opened the Toronto festival, was awarded at the festival’s closing night gala and also saw Banking Nature by Sandrine Feydel and Denis Delestrac take home the best international feature award.

In the categories for short films, Alex Hawley’s Norma’s Story was named best Canadian short and Justin Bogardus’ Nature Rx won best international short.

The night’s other prize, the Mark Haslam Award, was won by Ernesto Cabellos Damian for Daughter of the Lake.

In addition to the five awards, the Green Pitch prize was won by Sivana Vythilingum and Hannah Barron for their project Prey. The pair took home a prize of $22,000 in cash and services sponsored by Fearless Films, SIM Digital, The Source Shop, Precision Transfer Technologies, PS Production Services, Vistek, Trinity Square Video, Eggplant Pictures, Mach Sound, Scenic Drive & Rush Cut.