A ctor and producer Tonya Williams was named as one of six initial inductees for the 2025 edition of Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Williams is the founder and executive director of the Reelworld Screen Institute, Reelworld Film Festival and Summit and Reelworld Foundation. In May, she was recognized by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (Canadian Academy) with its 2024 Changemaker Award, which honours industry members that help to dismantle racism in the audiovisual sector.

The other five inductees are musician Liona Boyd, cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Tirone David, humanitarian Dr. Samantha Nutt, alternative rock band Our Lady Peace and the golfer Mike Weir.

The awards ceremony and gala for the inductees has moved to June 14, 2025 at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto. Plans for public events and additional inductees will be announced in the new year.

CMPA adds government relations exec

Nicholas Schiavo has joined the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) as its director of government and stakeholder relations.

Schiavo came to CMPA from the Canadian Council of Innovators, where he worked as its director of federal affairs.

He started officially on Nov. 11, and is reporting to CMPA’s SVP of industry, policy and general counsel Alain Strati, a CMPA spokesperson told Playback Daily.

Schiavo will be responsible for managing CMPA’s activities with the federal and provincial government, which includes providing guidance to senior CMPA staff and the board on policy positioning and strategy.

A French Youth wins twice at Cinemania

Writer-director Jérémie Battaglia’s documentary A French Youth (Extérieur Jour, 13PRODS, Les Productions du Lagon) won two prizes in its Quebec premiere at this year’s Cinemania Festival in Montreal.

The film won the Prix du jury Post-Moderne in the Films du Québec competition, which awards Quebec coproductions, on top of receiving a Special Mention from the documentary jury.

The Canada/France copro focuses on two North African immigrants in the south of France who participate in nonlethal bullfighting. Distribution is handled by Les Films du 3 Mars.

Battaglia was accompanied by producers Elodie Pollet and Amélie Lambert Bouchard, as well as the film’s protagonists Jawad Bakloul and Tito Sanchez.

The other Films du Québec winners are Sophie Deraspe’s Shepherds (Avenue B Productions, micro_scope), which received the Prix du Rayonnement Air Canada; Philippe Lesage’s Who By Fire (Unité Centrale, Shellac Sud), which won the Prix ARRQ de la Meilleure Réalisation; and Pier Luc-Funk, who received the Prix Interprétation for starring in Jean-François Leblanc’s Vile and Miserable (Colonelle Films).

Photo by Alan Weissman