The second day of  the 2025 Canadian Screen Awards (CSAs) celebrations began with the Cinematic Arts Awards on Saturday (May 31) afternoon, the third of five ceremonies, hosted by actor and filmmaker Carinne Leduc.

Matthew Rankin’s absurdist dramedy Universal Language, produced by Metafilms’ Sylvain Corbeil, secured a leading five honours at the ceremony. Its wins included Original Screenplay for Rankin, Ila Firouzabadi and Pirouz Nemati; Marilou Richer and Firouzabadi for casting; Negar Nemati for costume design; Louisa Schabas in art direction; and Achievement in Editing for Xi Feng.

The timely Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice (Scythia Films, Tailored Films, Profile Pictures), directed by Ali Abbasi, scored three wins. The Canada/Ireland/Denmark coproduction claimed victories for its U.S. supporting actor Jeremy Strong and for achievement in both hair and make-up.

David Cronenberg’s sci-fi horror The Shrouds (Prospero Pictures, SBS Productions, Saint Laurent Productions) also claimed two wins in sound editing and mixing.

Sook Yin-Lee, along with Joanne Sarazen, took home an adapted screenplay win for Paying For It (Wildling Pictures, Hawkeye Pictures), which she also directed. The film was also won in the cinematography category, awarded to Gayle Ye.

The documentary equivalent for cinematography was awarded to Michael Toledano for Yintah (Yintah Film).

The John Dunning Best First Feature Film Award went to Karen Chapman for directing Village Keeper (Smallaxx Motion Pictures), and the Golden Screen Award for Feature Film was given to Denise Robert for producing René Richard Cyr’s musical comedy Sisters and Neighbours! (Cinémaginaire) Robert and Cineplex CEO Ellis Jacob were also presented the previously announced Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute Awards during the ceremony.

Long-time Atom Egoyan collaborator Mychael Danna took Achievement in Music – Original Score for his composing on Egoyan’s Seven Veils. Best Original Music in a Feature Length Documentary was presented to composer and musician Murray Lightburn for his work on Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story (National Film Board of Canada [NFB], Banger Films).

Torquil Campbell, member of Montreal-based indie rock band Stars, was recognized with the original song award for his contribution to Karen Knox’s We Forgot to Break Up (Motel Pictures).

Graham Greene was lauded in the comedy supporting role category for his performance in Seeds (Carpe Dee Yum Productions).

In short films, Torill Kove’s Oscar-shortlisted Maybe Elephants (NFB, Mikrofilm) won in the animated category, Amélie Hardy’s Hello Stranger won Best Short Documentary and Alicia K. Harris’ On a Sunday at Eleven (Frontgirl Films) won Best Live Action Short Drama. Performance in a dramatic short went to Bryn McAuley for her work on Bibi’s Dog is Dead (Dead Dog Productions), directed by Shervin Kermani.

Yesterday’s ceremonies saw Prime Video’s Tragically Hip docuseries rack up unscripted wins, while Bell Media led the pack in the News, Entertainment and Sports Awards.

Saturday evening will see the presentation of the Scripted Television Awards, hosted by Nigel Downer and Allie Pearse. The 2025 CSAs will culminate on Sunday (June 1) with a 90-minute broadcast airing on CBC and CBC Gem hosted by comedian and actor Lisa Gilroy.

The full list of winners is available on the Academy website.

With files from Nicholas Sokic

Image courtesy of Metafilms