The Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) has nominated Beans, Night Raiders and Scarborough for the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award.

The honour, which will be handed out at the 25th TFCA Awards Gala in March, includes a $100,000 cash prize, with the runner-ups each receiving $5,000. Kazik Radwanski’s Anne at 13,000 ft won the award in 2021.

Beans is directed by Tracey Deer, who co-wrote the screenplay with Meredith Vuchnich. The feature is produced by Anne-Marie Gélinas of EMA Films and first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2020, where it was the second runner-up for the People’s Choice Award.

Scarborough is directed by Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson and produced by Nakhai under their banner Compy Films. The film is based on the bestselling novel by Catherine Hernandez, who also penned the screenplay. Scarborough had its world premiere at TIFF in 2021 and was the first runner-up for the People’s Choice Award.

Night Raiders is written and directed by Danis Goulet and produced by Tara Woodbury and Alcina Pictures’ Paul Barkin, as well as Ainsley Gardiner and Chelsea Winstanley. The film had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in 2021 and broke the record for the widest theatrical opening for an Indigenous filmmaker in Canada.

The TFCA named Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car as Best Picture. The Japanese drama tied with Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter for the most wins, with each picking up three. Drive My Car also earned Best International Film and Best Screenplay, while The Lost Daughter won Best Actress for Olivia Colman, Best Supporting Actress for Jessie Buckley and Best First Feature.

New Zealand’s Jane Campion won Best Director for The Power of the Dog, which counts Montreal’s Roger Frappier among its producers.

Denzel Washington picked up Best Actor for Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, while Bradley Cooper won Best Supporting Actor for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza. The Allan King Documentary Film Award was given to Ahmir Khalib “Questlove” Thompson’s Summer of Soul while Best Animated Feature went to Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee.

The annual TFCA gala is expected to take place in Toronto in March. Among the awards still to be announced are the Company 3 Clyde Gilmour Award, a “pay-it-forward” honour that gives a chosen filmmaker $50,000 worth of services, and the Stella Artois Jay Scott Prize, which gives $10,000 to an emerging artist.

Pictured (L-R): Beans, Night Raiders and Scarborough