Hot Docs has selected In Sync Media president Lalita Krishna as the 2021 winner of the Don Haig Award.

Given annually to an independent Canadian producer by a jury of their peers, the award honours the recipient’s body of work, creative vision and entrepreneurship. It comes with a $5,000 cash prize from the Don Haig Foundation for the recipient and an additional $5,000 cash prize for an emerging female doc filmmaker of the winner’s choice.

Krishna selected Elizabeth D. Costa, who directed the In Sync Media-produced doc Bangla Surf Girls, for the prize, which also comes with an all-access pass to next year’s Hot Docs.

Krishna has worked as a documentary producer and filmmaker for two decades, starting with the 2002 doc Ryan’s Well, about a young Ontario boy who began a fundraising campaign to give children in Uganda access to clean water. She wrote and produced Bangla Surf Girls, which is a 2021 selection at Hot Docs, and more recent documentary productions include Fearing of Dancing (2020), Untying the Knot (2021) and Listen to Me (2015), which won Best Feature Documentary at the Reelworld Film Festival.

Outside of her filmmaking achievements, Krishna worked with the DOC Institute to develop the Breakthrough program, an annual lab that helps emerging filmmakers prepare to pitch and sell their projects in the market. She was given WIFT’s Crystal Award in 2013 and the Trailblazer Award from Reelworld in 2012.

Krishna was named co-chair of the Hot Docs board of directors in 2018 and co-chair of The Canadian Independent Screen Fund in 2020.

“The Don Haig award is one of the few that recognize the work of producers. I feel privileged and humbled – particularly because I know that the jury is made up of peers, which makes this recognition even more special,” said Krishna in a statement. “Documentary has given so much meaning to my life that it seems fair to pay it forward. This award also recognizes the importance of giving. A popular Eastern proverb says: ‘while it’s an honour to receive – it’s a privilege to give’.”

Last year’s recipient of the Don Haig Award was Bob Moore of EyeSteelFilm; past recipients include White Pine Pictures’ Peter Raymont, Intuitive Pictures’ Ina Fichman and EyeSteelFilm’s Daniel Cross.