The nominees are in for the DGC Awards feature film, documentary and short film categories.

Following the national labour union’s TV and DGC Discovery prize nominees earlier this month, the organization revealed its full selection list. Set to be announced by the guild during its 19th annual awards, taking place virtually on consecutive nights starting on Oct. 24, this year’s Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film contenders include: Charles Officer (Akilla’s Escape, pictured); Sonia Bonspille Boileau (Rustic Oracle); Daniel Roby (Target Number One); Vincenzo Natali (In the Tall Grass); and Jeanne Leblanc (Les Nôtres, “Our Own”).

Meanwhile, Michelle Latimer (Inconvenient Indian) has secured two nominations.

Hot on the heels of  the multi-hyphenate’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) wins for People’s Choice Documentary Award and the Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Feature, Latimer is among the nominees for the Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary and the DGC Discovery Award Short List.

Notably, for the Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary, she’s in the running with Yung Chang (This is Not a Movie), Claude Guilmain (High Wire, “Sur la Corde Raide”), Charles Wilkinson (Haida Modern) and Danielle Strurk (El Toro). Meanwhile, for the Discovery Award, the list includes: Tracey Deer (Beans); Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt (No Ordinary Man); and Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer (Violation). All four films recently played TIFF, with Beans named as second runner up for the People’s Choice Award.

Filmmaker Tiffany Hsiung – who picked up TIFF 2020’s Share Her Journey Award for her short Sing me a Lullaby – is also contention for the DGC’s Best Short Film. Others in the section include: Trevor Anderson (Jesse Jams); Ander Moir (Take Me to Prom); Glen Matthews (Teething); and Jesse Shamata (A Simple F*cking Gesture, formerly The Wave).

Closing out the documentary side, Caroline Christie is nominated for two projects in the Best Picture Editing – Documentary: First We Eat and Meat the Future alongside Roland Schlimme. Meanwhile, The Corporation and The New Corporation co-director Jennifer Abbott is up for the category with her documentary The Magnitude of All Things, which is set to make its world premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) and sees Abbott serve as writer, director, producer and editor. Lee Walker (Butterflies in the Storm) and Nicholas Montgomery (No Roses on a Sailor’s Grave) round out the list.

Best Picture Editing – Feature Film, meanwhile, sees Ron Sanders (Falling), Matthew Hannam (The Nest), Michele Conroy (In the Tall Grass) and Michelle Szemberg and Orlee Buium (Queen of the Morning Calm) nominated. Best production design for feature film also includes François Séguin (The Song of Names), Craig Lathrop (The Lighthouse), Diana Abbatangelo (Akilla’s Escape) and David Pelletier (Mafia Inc.).

Finally, in the Best Sound Editing – Feature Film section, Faustine Pelipel (Things I Do for Money) is up alongside Robert Bertola, Marvyn Dennis and Kelly McGahey (The Education of Fredrick Fitzell); Adam Stein, Joseph Bracciale, Kevin Banks and Rose Gregoris (Ready or Not); David McCallum, Dave Rose, Krystin Hunter and Amelia Chiarelli (Akilla’s Escape); and McCallum, Rose, Stein, Hunter, Banks, Claire Dobson, Jean Bot and Christopher Alan King (In the Tall Grass).

Image of Akilla’s Escape courtesy of TIFF