Director Ariane Louis-Seize’s dark comedy Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person has won the $25,000 WIFF Prize in Canadian Film at the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF).

Louis-Seize’s debut feature, produced by Montreal-based Art et essai, was among 10 nominees for the prize. The winner was announced at a private reception on Sunday (Oct. 29), which had representatives of the nominated films and jury members in attendance.

Louis-Seize co-wrote the film with Christine Doyon, which recently also won the Directors Guild of Canada’s Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Prize. Jeanne-Marie Poulain and Line Sander Egede produced. Distribution for the film in Canada is handled by distributor and sales agent h264 and Game Theory Films.

The winner of the WIFF prize was selected by a jury of industry experts, including Steve Gravestock, former senior international programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival; Kerri Craddock, programming lead at Apple TV; filmmakers Maxime Giroux and Tiffany Hsiung; and Peter Howell, Toronto Star film critic and member of the Critics Choice Association.

“We are proud to give the WIFF Canadian film prize to a film notable for its skillful and inventive approach to genre (well several genres really), its stellar lead performance, its beautifully downbeat comic tone and distinctive directorial touch,” said jury president Gravestock in a statement.

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person centres on a vampire who is too sensitive to bite, but must make a choice if she wants to survive. The film was screened at the ongoing festival along with the other nominated films, which included Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry, Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils and Sophie Dupuis’ Solo, among others.

At a special event on Friday (Oct. 27), WIFF also announced that it had received more than $270,000 in funding support from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport; the Francophone Community Grants program and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

The 2023 edition of the festival started on Oct. 26 and runs until Nov. 6.

Photo courtesy of Art et essai