Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn’s The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open won big at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), picking up two prizes from its BC Spotlight awards.

The film was named Best BC Film, earning a cash prize of $10,000 and $15,000 worth of post-production credits, while Tailfeathers earned the BC Emerging Filmmaker Award, along with $7,500 and $10,000 in equipment rental credits. The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open recently picked up U.S. distribution from filmmaker Ava Duvernay’s ARRAY Releasing.

Zacharias Kunuk’s One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk took home the award for Best Canadian Film, along with the $15,000 cash prize. Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum received a special mention from the jury.

The award for Best Canadian Documentary went to Alanis Obomsawin’s Jordan River Anderson, the Messenger, picking up a $15,000 prize. Julia Ivanova’s My Dads, My Moms and Me was the jury’s special mention. The short film category was given to Caroline So Jung Lee’s At the Bottom of the Sea, with Theodore Ushev’s The Physics of Sorrow landing the second mention. So Jung Lee also walked away with a $2,000 prize and $15,000 in VFX service credits.

The BC Spotlight Sea to Sky award, given to a female creative on a B.C.-produced short or feature, was presented to director Ying Wang for her feature The World is Bright, and comes with a $20,000 cash prize.

The Emerging Canadian Director Award was presented to Heather Young for her film Murmur, along with a $3,000 prize. Myriam Verreault earned a special mention for her film Kuessipan. Filmmakers Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau and Yannick Nolin were given the The Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film award for their short Acadiana, which comes with a $2,000 cash prize. Jessica Johnson and Ryan Ermacora received a special mention for their short Labour/Leisure.

The BC Spotlight and Canadian awards from this year’s VIFF totalled $110,000 in cash prizes, with sponsors including the Directors Guild of Canada, the Rogers Group of Funds, Creative BC, UBCP/ACTRA and ACTRA.

VIFF runs from Sept. 26 to Oct. 11.

Image courtesy of TIFF