Screen Nova Scotia, a not-for-profit membership organization and film commission, unveiled the award winners for its 2025 Screen Nova Scotia Awards Gala at the Halifax Convention Centre on Saturday (May 31), hosted by actor Reid Price.

Sharp Corner (Alcina Pictures, Shut Up & Colour Pictures, Workhorse Pictures) from writer-director Jason Buxton (pictured right) was presented the Screen Nova Scotia Award for Best Feature Film. Produced by Marc Tetreault, Jason Levangie and Paul Barkin, the film stars Ben Foster (pictured left) and Vancouver-born Cobie Smulders and follows a man who becomes increasingly obsessed with car crashes outside his home.

Crave’s The Trades (Trailer Park Boys, Kontent House) took home the Best Scripted Television Series Award. The workplace comedy, which stars Robb Wells, Susan Kent and Jason Daley, also won the ACTRA Maritimes Award for Series Ensemble. The cast received further praise thanks to fellow star Gil Anderson, who won an ACTRA Maritimes Award for Outstanding Performance.

The Best Unscripted Television Series Award went to season three of the French-language docuseries Les quatre coins de l’assiette (Connexions Productions). The show accompanies photographer and foodie Jessica Emin as she explores the connections between dishes from top chefs and the local food used to create them.

The Best Documentary Award went to Great White North (Tell Tale Productions), exploring the explosion of great white shark encounters off Canada’s east coast, while Best Short Film went to Charles Wahl’s Paper, produced by Wahl and Evan Kelly. The Women in Film and Television – Atlantic’s Best Nova Scotia Director Award went to filmmaker Pamela Gallant for her debut feature Monica’s News (Picture Plant).

Further ACTRA Maritimes Awards for Outstanding Performances were presented to gala host Price for CTV’s Sullivan’s Crossing (Reel World Management), Donovan Colan for his work in Valerie Buhagia’s The Dogs (Wild Media Entertainment) and Nicole Steeves for Tara Thorne’s comedy Lakeview (Fri Bands), which Steeves also produced.

Megan Wennberg’s written, directed and produced short animated film Bloody Mess received Best Animated Production and Akshay Shirke won the The Groundbreaking Performance Award for the recently renewed Bell Fibe TV1 series Normal Scotia (CMW Productions).

Rounding out the awards, Tom Anthes, the set designer for CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes (Island of Misfits Media Ventures), won the 2025 Film Crew Excellence Award; Sobaz Benjamin, founder and executive director of In My Own Voice Arts Association, won The Community Recognition Award; and Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography went to Kevin Fraser whose previous credits include Paper, Who’s Yer Father? and Bystanders.

Image courtesy of Screen Nova Scotia